Benigno Simeon “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. was born November 27,
1932, in Tarlac. He was the chief opposition leader during the era of martial
law in the Philippines, from 1972 until
1981 under then President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Aquino’s assassination in Manila International
airport on August 21, 1983 galvanized popular opposition to the Marcos
government and brought his widow, Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco Aquino, to the
political forefront. After the ouster of Marcos, Corazon was elected the first
women president of the republic of the Philippines. His only son, Noynoy
Aquino, later became the 15th president of the Philippines. Cory and
Noynoy held the presidency for a total of 12 years.
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Ninoy was a grandson of a Philippine general and the son of Benigno
Aquino Sr, a well-known politician and landowner in Tarlac, whose families
owned the Hacienda Maling, Hacienda Sawang and Hacienda Murcia. After World War 2, Ninoy’s father was arrested and charged
with treason for collaborating with the Japanese during the latter's occupation
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Aquino began his
career as a journalist, covering the Korean War as a war correspondent. His life
in politics started very early. At age 22, he was elected mayor of Concepción in
1955, vice-governor of Tarlac province in 1959, governor of Tarlac province in
1961, the youngest Philippine senator at age 34 in 1967, and national leader of
the Liberal Party in 1968. Meanwhile, he become wealthier through his marriage
to Cory Aquino, the daughter of one of the largest landowners in Luzon, whose
vast land estate includes the infamous Hacienda Luisita, A controversial 6,453
hectare sugar plantation where many farmers died fighting for their basic
rights as tenants and tillers. Cory protected their estate by engaging in a
series of half-hearted gestures at land reform, leading to massacres of farmers
in many occasions. Ninoy helped brokered the purchase of Hacienda Luisita, the
biggest hacienda in the country, for his wife's family in 1957. He later on
became the Hacienda's administrator. In return for the family agreeing to
distribute Hacienda Luisita’s land to small farmers by 19 67, the purchase
received preferential treatment from the Philippine government, which included
a loan package from the Philippine Central Bank and the Government Service
Insurance System.
Ninoy was known for his audacity to thwart Marcos, ostensibly
planning to run for president in 1973. In his desire to get rid of his nemesis,
Ninoy conspired with the left-winged party and the CPP-NPA. In one of Joma
Sison’s interviews, Joma said Ninoy proposed that the two of them would make a
hunger strike against the Marcos regime and make demands for reforms. Joma
Sison admitted that it was Julius Fortuna, and not him, who met Ninoy Aquino in
the house of a big businessman, whose daughter was an activist, and who
represented the NDF Preparatory Commission, the CPP and NPA. Declassified US
government documents dated September 20, 1972, said Aquino, “may be willing at
some point in the future to ally himself with the Communists as the leader of a
revolution, if he is convinced that this is the best way for him to realize his
ultimate political ambition.” Rodolfo Salas, CPP chair at the height of Martial
Law, said in an interview with Ateneo De Manila University Professor Lisandro
Claudio, that not only did he bring wounded New People's Army soldiers to
Aquino’s houses, but he received guns and cash from Aquino himself.
With a growing threat from the rising communist party, then
President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 23, 1972 through
proclamation 1081. Ninoy was arrested and charged of murder, illegal possession
of firearms and subversion together with NPA leaders Victor Corpuz and Bernabe
Buscayno. Victor Corpuz is believed to be a government deep penetration agent,
who witnessed Ninoy’s alliance with the reds.
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Ninoy Aquino’s popularity was greatly due to his daring
criticism of the Marcos regime. His gifts as a public speaker, his brilliant
mind, as well as his great ambition fired-up his popularity. In terms of
tangible contribution for the development of the country, Ninoy is closer to
none. In fact, no large infrastructure project or national livelihood projects
can be attributed to Ninoy. It’s all talk for him. Being the leading candidate for the 1973
election, and with Marcos ending his term, Aquino was close to achieving his
ambition, comes with it the threat of the Philippines becoming a communist
country.
Ninoy Aquino was an overly ambitious politician who so
coveted the presidency he co-opted the Communist Party of the Philippines to
help him implement a way of becoming the republic’s president. If he could have
been the president, the usual political agenda is to protect their vested
interests or their dynasty, since Ninoy came from an oligarch family. Tarlac,
the Aquino and Cojuangco’s bailiwick, lags in terms of economic development
compared to other province in the Philippines like Taguig, Cebu, Davao or
Iloilo, despite producing 2 presidents and numerous powerful politicians. Filipinos
experienced dark days during the Marcos regime. If Ninoy Aquino succeeded, it
could have been, darker.
