MANILA – A makeshift shed at a UniTeam rally in Tarlac City on Saturday was put up where the monument depicting former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. stood, blocking the the front view of the statue.

Aquino was a staunch opposition figure during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos, father of presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Jr., the UniTeam standard bearer.

Tarlac is the known political bailiwick of the Aquinos.

Part of the shed covered the monument from head to the waist, while a tarpaulin poster of Marcos Jr. and running-mate Sara Duterte-Carpio blocked the waist down.

As of posting time, organizers did not say why they set up the structure in the area.

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Aquino was assassinated upon his return to the country in 1983 following political exile, triggering the EDSA People Power Revolution three years later that toppled Marcos and forced his family to flee the country.

His widow, Corazon Aquino, took over as president.

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Since returning to the Philippines in 1991 from a 5-year exile in Hawaii, the Marcoses have been trying to rebuild their image.

The government has recovered P174 billion in Marcos ill-gotten wealth, according to the Presidential Commission on Good Government.

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The family denies any wrongdoing. Matriarch Imelda Marcos has been found guilty of several counts of graft in lower courts, but has won most of her appeals in higher courts. None of the members of the former first family has been imprisoned.

– With a report from Joyce Balancio, ABS-CBN News

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