EDITORIAL - Ninoy's legacy

It all started with a grave injustice. The assassination of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. set in motion a series of events that culminated in what seemed impossible at the time of his death: the downfall of an entrenched dictator and the restoration of democracy.

Those events catapulted to the presidency Ninoy’s widow Corazon, who put the nation on the difficult road to rebuilding democratic institutions. The life stories of Ninoy and Cory Aquino would send their only son to the nation’s highest office within a year after Cory’s death.

Today the nation marks the 27th year since Ninoy Aquino was shot on the tarmac of what was then known as the Manila International Airport. The mastermind of the assassination has not been officially established. All that the nation has is the belief that an attack staged by members of the Aviation Security Command on the country’s most prominent opposition leader could not have been carried out without the knowledge of the Marcos regime.

When the Public Attorney’s Office worked for the release of the soldiers who were convicted of the murders of Ninoy and alleged communist assassin Rolando Galman, the Aquinos had opposed the move. Aquino’s heirs believed that the soldiers continued to cover up, not necessarily for the mastermind, but for what they did to the senator as he lay wounded in the Avsecom van that took an interminably long time to reach a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

All the soldiers were released in the previous administration, and the truth may never be known. Ninoy’s children appear to be moving on. Justice has not been fully served, but the events that have unfolded since the assassination make it unlikely that Filipinos will allow a return of authoritarian rule ever again. The victory of his son and namesake, who campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, by a wide margin last May was an affirmation of Ninoy’s legacy.

Other tragedies, while not of the same magnitude, should also lead to lasting changes. There cannot be another Maguindanao massacre, or murders perpetrated by elite police forces such as the killing of Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. The torture of crime suspects, such as the one perpetrated apparently by a Manila police precinct commander, cannot continue; cleansing must begin with the torturer revealing what has happened to his victim. Out of every tragedy, positive, meaningful change can emerge.