Ninoy & Noynoy at the mall

On a busy Sunday afternoon at one of the three busiest malls in the Philippines, President Noynoy Aquino waded through a thick crowd of mallers, stopping at times to shake hands and sign autographs, to grace a photo exhibit that honored his father Ninoy Aquino’s memory. And he did it in a place where Ninoy would probably have felt at home  the heart of a mall, where every Juan de la Cruz and his barangay find their own little corner of the sky.

After seeing a video retrospective on his father’s life during the exhibit’s launching ceremonies, P-Noy went up the stage for an extemporaneous speech as the crowd ogled him.

He said he was struck that some of the problems brought up by his father are still unresolved 30 years later, like the Westinghouse-Bataan Nuclear Power Plant deal. But he said he hoped that in his watch there would be closure of some of the unresolved issues, so that no more sacrifices and hardships will be asked of the next generation.

“Tapusin na natin ito!” he declared.

He also confided that in Taipei’s Grand Hotel the night before Ninoy returned home to the Philippines, the latter received a call that cast a pall on his face. When he put down the receiver, “Bumagsak ang mukha niya.” (His face fell.)

Ninoy would later tell his brother-in-law Len Oreta that the caller told him that if he insisted on returning home to the Philippines, he would be killed.

Also on exhibit are a collage of photographs depicting three Aquinos Ninoy, Cory and Noynoy taking their oath.

But Ninoy believed that, “The Filipino is worth dying for.”

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Those of us who have had the privilege of hearing Ninoy Aquino speak  even just on programs replayed on television through the years  see and hear a man who did exactly as he preached. There is no contradiction in what he said and what he stood for, so that every time I hear his most memorable speeches, I am dumbfounded. The thread of consistency is never broken.

“I would prefer a meaningful death to a meaningless life.”

“The Filipino is worth dying for.”

“I am no longer seeking the presidency and I want to dedicate the last drop of my blood to freedom and the dismantling of martial law.”

Words are spellbinding, but only when they are translated into action do they become truly enabling. I know of few  the late Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and JFK, for instance  who translated their edifying words into deeds. They meant what they said, and did as they meant.

A Ninoy cartoon on exhibit. Photo by Ed Ramirez

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Ninoy’s words, some of them haunting now, were once again brought to the fore during the opening of the photo exhibit, Ninoy, My Hero, at the Atrium of the SM Megamall last Sunday, the slain leader’s 28th death anniversary. Organized by his niece Maria Montelibano with the EDSA People Power Commission and SM, the exhibit is his life story in photos, with captions lifted from books and articles written by those closest to him  including his wife Cory and our very own the late STAR founding publisher Max V. Soliven. The photos on Ninoy as a politician were accompanied by excerpts from Soliven’s articles.

“This exhibit aims to make Ninoy still relevant to many Filipinos, of all ages and from all walks of life,” says Montelibano. She says some young people think of him as the father of Kris, and Ninoy would surely have delighted in that distinction. But Ninoy is much more than that, and as his contemporaries age, some vital memories of him fade with them.

“The exhibit seeks to keep (Ninoy’s) ideals alive and hopes to inspire a new generation of heroes,” Montelibano adds.

Millie Dizon of SM, who collaborated with Maria and her group (including Joey Avellana and Jan Co-Chua) for the exhibit, agrees that it is important “for a new wave of Filipinos” to be aware of their heritage, and Ninoy Aquino is very much a part of it.

Most of us are what we are today because of an inspiration that fell on our midst like a shaft of light. Could have been a parent or grandparent, a hero, a teacher, a priest, a soldier. That who or which inspires us is the wind beneath our wings, the template we follow as we seek to realize our dreams. Not everyone wants to die for his country as Ninoy did, but I am sure most of us want to do good for our country. Just listening to Ninoy speak, and I, in my middle age, feel idealistic all over again. How much more the young in search of their true North?

President Noynoy Aquino with Maria Montelibano. Photo by JOVEN CAGANDE

So exhibits like the Ninoy retrospective at SM, which transform the couch patriot in us into a pro-active agent for change (like Gawad Kalinga’s Tony Meloto and CNN hero Efren Peñaflorida), could really be rewriting history.

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