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Revision as of 07:03, 4 April 2004 by Soup (talk | contribs) (added details on the assassination)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Benigno Aquino Jr.
Benigno Aquino Jr. (November 27, 1932 - August 21, 1983), more popularly known by his nickname, Ninoy, was a leading opposition politician in the Philippines during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport on returning home from exile, and widow Corazon Aquino became the focus of the opposition and eventually replaced Marcos as president.
Born in Concepción in Tarlac province, he became mayor of the town in 1955 at the age of only 22. In the same year he married Corazón. He became governor of Tarlac in 1961, secretary-general of the Liberal Party in 1966, and a senator in 1967. When President Marcos declared martial law in 1972 Aquino was imprisoned on charges of murder and subversion. He was sentenced to death in 1977. This was commuted into exile to allow medical treatment in the United States in 1980.
On August 21, 1983 he returned to the Philippines. Despite the presence of his own security guards and government troops on the tarmac, he was gunned down by Rolando Galman, who was immediately shot dead by troops. It was never officially established why Galman had done it, though many suspected that Galman was just a fall guy. Even more suspicions arose on who ordered the assassination. Everyone from the CIA to the Communist Party of the Philippines to First Lady Imelda Marcos was accused of having conspired for the hit. It must also be noted that President Marcos was gravely ill and in very poor shape during this time, as he was at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute recovering from his kidney transplant on August 7 when this incident occured. He then ordered an independent body, the Agrava Commission, to investigate the assassination.
The assassination thrust his widow Cory into the popular eye, and as head of the opposition coalition she stood for president in 1986, and gained the disputed election when Marcos fled the country.
- “The Filipino is worth dying for.” —Ninoy Aquino
In his honor, the Manila International Airport has been renamed as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and his image is printed on the 500-peso bill.
His son, Benigno Aquino III, is a congressman representing a district of Tarlac and his daughter, Kris Aquino, is a popular TV and movie actress.