True Filipino hero largely forgotten

Twenty-five years ago, on Aug. 21, 1983, former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was shot dead less than a minute after soldiers escorted him from his seat on China Airlines Flight 811.

I knew Ninoy meant every word when he said, "The Filipino is worth dying for." But until that day, it never occurred to me that those who were so threatened by his return would take him so literally. In keeping with "holiday economics," we — or at least those who care to remember — will be commemorating Ninoy’s ultimate sacrifice this week.

But now, a new generation of Filipinos has emerged. They have little or no knowledge at all of Ninoy and the impact his death had on our nation’s history, apart from what they are taught in school.

Beset by so many operational and logistical difficulties, our public education system unfortunately can offer little help in imbuing our youth with a strong sense of history, positive civic values and national identity. On a sliding scale of priorities, English, science and math will take precedence over history, social studies and culture.

Reportedly, our public schools sorely need academically qualified teachers who can competently discuss these subjects. Indeed, I know of some schools where history subjects are assigned to PE teachers who have been told to "just follow the lesson plan." Obviously, in this scenario there can be no transference of values.

So today, for many of our youth, Ninoy is just a face on the P500 bill, or the father of the immensely popular Kris Aquino. These young Filipinos need to be introduced more intimately to a real Filipino hero who helped restore the freedoms they now enjoy — by paying for it with his own life.

On the other hand, many of those who do have memories of the Ninoy Aquino assassination and its aftermath have grown indifferent over the years. The events that unfolded after Ninoy’s death may have convinced them that the real mastermind behind the assassination plot will never be exposed. They probably feel that Philippine democracy has retrogressed to such a point that Ninoy might as well have died in vain. Such cynicism is bound to find its way into the consciousness of the young.

The Foundation for Worldwide People Power (www.fwwpp.org) believes that Ninoy should be remembered not just as an outstanding individual, but more so as someone who helped us find the courage to be our own heroes.

In this light, the FWWPP has produced a feature-length video documentary titled Beyond Conspiracy: 25 Years after the Aquino Assassination.The director of the video is award-winning documentarist Butch Nolasco. The script was written by another award-winner, Ben Tangco.

Our aims in producing Beyond Conspiracy are simple.

First, we want to reintroduce Ninoy — and the values that he stood for — to our young.

We also want to provide an accurate and comprehensive account of events leading to and following Ninoy’s assassination through a comprehensive review of key eyewitness accounts and vital evidence using competent and independent-minded forensic experts.

Third, we seek to go beyond the forensic evidence and arrive at a firm conclusion as to who was ultimately responsible for Ninoy’s killing in the context of the unique historical circumstances and powerful political forces at play during the time.

Lastly, the FWWPP seeks to sear the Filipino consciousness with the hideousness of the murder and the larger injury inflicted on the nation by the failure to give Ninoy justice and to punish the real perpetrators of the crime.

will be shown on national television in The Philippines on Aug. 24. Together with the FWWPP board, I was able to watch the director’s cut and I can tell you that this 90-minute documentary is informative, dramatically presented and emotionally charged.

- Philippine Inquirer