Ninoy Aquino’s assassination has more clarity now — Marcos
MANILA, Philippines — In a rare statement on his family’s storied political rival, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that time has allowed Filipinos to look at the late senator Benigno Aquino Jr.’s death with more clarity.
Marcos declined to comment on Aquino’s character directly, carefully wording his statement to focus on the holiday itself, which commemorates the anti-Martial Law figure’s assassination.
“The commemoration of Ninoy Aquino Day brings to light a chapter in our nation's shared story that continues to echo across generations and public memory,” Marcos said in his statement.
“The passage of time has allowed the country to approach this event with greater clarity and, therefore, with a deeper perspective. History invites reflection more than reaction and from that reflection arises a clearer understanding of civic duty,” he added.
Aquino was the main rival of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. — the president’s father. He had been a staunch critic of Marcos Sr.’s imposition of Martial Law, even becoming a political prisoner while he was a senator.
He had sought medical treatment in the US after a heart attack, but decided to return to the Philippines to face the Marcoses.
But before he could step on Philippine soil, Aquino was shot dead. Aquino’s killing became a major turning point for the EDSA Revolution, which ousted Marcos Sr. and drove his family out of the country.
While Marcos Sr. had been accused of having Aquino killed, it was never officially proven.
Only for the Marcos children to make a slow return to power in the following decades, with Marcos Jr. seated as the president and Sen. Imee Marcos as a lawmaker.
As the current president put it in his Aquino day statement: “I have come to understand that history offers less final judgment than continuing instruction. It sharpens how we serve, how we listen, and how we bear the weight of an office with a greater purpose moving forward.”
“This day, therefore, becomes an invitation to govern with sobriety, conscience, and foresight. Our commemoration achieves meaning when the lessons of the past are reflected in our actions and in the moral architecture of institutions,” Marcos Jr. said.
Marcos Sr.’s imposition of Martial Law deeply affected the nation, with thousands of people tortured, imprisoned, or killed.
The Marcos family also left the country with billions of pesos.
Several members of the Marcos family currently hold positions of power in government.
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