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President Gloria Arroyo will lead the country in remembering the
25th death anniversary of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, even as
his family is upset with the decision to move the date of the
holiday.
The President is scheduled to install a bronze
bust of Aquino today at the arrival area of the newly opened
Terminal 3 of the airport that bears his name.
A leading opponent of the late President
Ferdinand Marcos, Aquino was assassinated at the old Manila
International Airport upon his return to the Philippines from exile
in the United States on August 21, 1983.
A lone gunman, Rolando Galman, was blamed to
have killed Aquino after he made it through some 2,000 state
security forces deployed at the airport at the time.
The assassination sparked a series of mass
actions against the Marcos regime that culminated in the ouster of
the dictator through the People Power Revolution in 1986. Aquino’s
widow, Corazon or “Cory” for short, was installed as president
after the Marcoses fled to the United States.
Built for international and domestic traffic,
Terminal 3 has 140 check-in counters on five islands, nine baggage
carousels and 120 Immigration counters.
The government opened the terminal for domestic
flights last month, but said it is working to start using it as an
international terminal hopefully before the end of this year. Local
carriers operating at Terminal 3 include Cebu Pacific, PAL Express
and Air Philippines.
Mass for Ninoy
Former President Cory Aquino, along with
relatives and friends, attended the 25th death anniversary Mass of
her late husband at the Church of the Gesu in Ateneo de Manila
University on Sunday.
In his homily, Fr. Jojo Magadia recalled Ninoy
Aquino’s martyrdom and prayed for the speedy recovery of the
former president, who is battling colon cancer.
The dignitaries at the Mass included Gina de
Venecia, Mayor Alfredo Lim of Manila, former Senate President
Franklin Drilon, Makati Rep. Teddy Boy Locsin, former Social Welfare
Secretary Corazon Soliman and former Interior and Local Government
Secretary Joey Lina.
ABS-CBN news quoted Mrs. Aquino as saying it was
“heartwarming” that people still remember her husband and his
good deeds.
Ninoy Aquino dedicated most of his life to
elected public office. But before entering politics at age 17, he
became the youngest war correspondent to cover the Korean War for
The Manila Times, when it was owned by the Roces family.
Earlier, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd
and his family were dismayed with Proclamation 1463, which changed
the date of the commemoration from Thursday to today.
He said President Arroyo should respect the
actual date, because it is part of history.
President Arroyo is known for rearranging the
celebration of public holidays if the dates fall on a weekday, so
that people can have a long weekend.
-- Angelo S. Samonte and Ruben D. Manahan 4th
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