In 1981, Ninoy rallied Los Angeles Fil-Ams for Democracy

By Ging Reyes, North America News Bureau Chief | 08/22/2009 9:51 AM

28 years ago in Los Angeles, hundreds of Filipinos paid to hear Ninoy Aquino speak. The Philippines was then under the Marcos dictatorship and Aquino was recuperating from a heart surgery. In 1980, before his exile from the Philippines, Aquino suffered a heart attack in prison, a victim of then-president Marcos' martial law.

“And so, Mr. Marcos can imprison my body but my spirit shall soar! And it shall come to you here in Los Angeles to remind you that in your comfort and in your home and in your happiness here, there are still many people crying for liberation in your homeland,” Ninoy told the crowd in 1981.

“That speech in L.A. was the public declaration that Ninoy was not going to lie low,” said Fluellen Ortigas, former special assistant to Aquino, now a businessman in San Leandro, California. “He was not even saying that ‘I am going to lead the struggle against Marcos.’ He was going to make a declaration that the Filipino has within him an inherent strength to struggle for what is right.”

Dennis Normandy, President of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, was a family friend of Aquino’s since their childhood days. Normandy says on one Sunday morning in 1981, Ninoy gave him a surprise visit.

“He stayed for almost 3 hours. As Ninoy can and did, he held fort on a lot of topics. It was really enlightening as usual, and his insights were brilliant,” Normandy reminisced. “His optimism and faith in the Filipino people—that they eventually would turn their backs on the regime that suppressed them. And that the flame of democracy was still burning in the country—that radiated from Ninoy.”

His was an extraordinary life. At 17, Ninoy was the youngest war correspondent to cover the Korean War. Youngest mayor at 22, youngest senator at 34, Ninoy was the wonder boy of Philippine politics. But his uncompromising stand against the Marcos dictatorship would lead to A 7-year imprisonment.

Ninoy and his family spent 3 years-in-exile in the United States, and when he came home in 1983, Ninoy made the ultimate sacrifice—a sacrifice he highly anticipated, as can be heard through television cameras accompanying his last flight to the Philippines.

“You have to be very ready with your hand camera because this action could become very fast. In a matter of three, four, minutes, it could be all over, you know? And I won’t be able to talk to you again after this,” Ninoy was overheard during his August 23rd, 1983 flight.

Ninoy's death galvanized the nation and eventually led to the 1986 People Power Revolution that swept his wife Cory into the presidency.

Many now say Ninoy's fight should continue, and the recent passing of Cory Aquino should reawaken the Flipinos' commitment to democracy.

“Kung tumulo ang mga luha nyo noong nakita nyo si Cory, dapat alalahanin nyo si Ninoy,” said Ortigas. “Without Ninoy, all these things would not have happened. He had to sacrifice, talagang dugo ang ibinuhos niya hindi lang usap-usapan. And Cory is the continuation of that, we should never forget.”

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