A month of heroes
FOR those in search of inspiration this month, look no further than persons very close to my heart. We remember three public servants, connected by family and history, who passed away in August – Tito Ninoy, Tita Cory, and Tito Butz Aquino.
All three are figures integral in our country’s journey towards achieving true freedom and earning our democracy.
Thirty-two years ago, on August 21, Ninoy Aquino was assassinated at the previously named Manila International Airport.
I was six years old then and the only one in my immediate family who wasn’t at the airport. But I recall our cook telling me to pray at the makeshift altar in our home vaguely explaining, “May nangyari daw.”
I still remember the look on my parents’ faces when they finally got home, the day my uncle was killed.
Little did we know that those resounding gunshots would echo beyond our walls and throughout the country, carrying with them a call for justice, freedom, and democracy. The restoration of democracy had begun.
Tita Cory, who passed away on August 1, six years ago, became the symbol of the struggle that followed. With millions of our countrymen behind her, she brought light back into our government and began the long, arduous quest to purge political systems of the deeply embedded culture of corruption and patronage.
Last but not the least, we have Butz Aquino.
Best known as one of the leaders that emerged after Tito Ninoy was assassinated and one of the key figures in the 1986 People Power Revolution, Tito Butz passed away last August 17 due to complications from diabetes.
Before 1983, he was a businessman and an actor, known to be the happy-go-lucky, debonair, and charming younger brother of Ninoy.
But after that fateful day of his brother’s assassination, Tito Butz’ courage and passion emerged as he led protests and marches that galvanized the hearts and voices of millions held hostage by the dictatorship.
In one of the events this previous week, I characterized the difference between the two brothers as the inspiration and the inspired.
Tito Ninoy was the icon and inspiration whose death lit a fire in our people; Tito Butz was one of the inspired, like many Filipinos, who found a better version of himself emerge during those challenging times.
Tito Ninoy was in our hearts and minds even in the years before EDSA; Tito Butz was with us in the streets, arms locked, facing water cannons, guns, and tanks.
Then, when Tito Butz was elected senator in 1987 and 1992, he continued the fight for the rights of marginalized Filipinos, albeit not as dramatically but still effectively and sustainably through policy.
His main laws included the Magna Carta for Small Farmers, the Seed Act, and the Cooperative Code of the Philippines.
On the day his ashes were brought to the Philippine Senate, we dedicated our sponsored bill, the Credit Surety Fund Cooperative Act, to him, the Father of the Cooperative Movement in the Philippines.
Until their final days, all three of these heroes remained active and involved in nation building, always holding on to the hope that one day, all Filipinos will know freedom, justice, and prosperity.
All three of them believed in the power of the people, more than the individual, to pursue, sustain, and foster the lasting change that our country requires.
They believed that the fate of our country lies not on one, but millions of Filipinos who strive to build a better Philippines through public service, entrepreneurship, policy development, education, health care, and many other noble means.
Tito Ninoy’s words come to mind as we remember them on this month of heroes.
“We should not depend on one man; we should depend on all of us. All of us are expandable in the cause for freedom and therefore I say stand up now and be a leader, and when all of us are leaders, we will expedite the cause of freedom.”
We now have the opportunity to stand tall and step up as leaders alongside our fallen heroes. May we continue to work towards a brighter future for the Philippines and all Filipinos.
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Who are your personal heroes that give you hope for our country and drive you to help your community? Share them with us by e-mailing apoliticsofhope@gmail. com or fb.com/BenignoBamAquino, or tune in during Wednesdays, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, at RMN Manila DZXL on “Status Update.”
The 13th Search for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards is open. Visit www. tayoawards.net for information on how to apply and nominate your youth organizations that help communities. Deadline for entries is on September 4. Join now!