Benigno Aquino, Jr.

:For the municipality, see Sen. Ninoy Aquino, Sultan Kudarat

Batasang Pambansa (Parliament) Elections and Heart Bypass Surgery

In 1978 from his prison cell, he was even allowed to "take part" in the elections for Interim Batasang Pambansa (Parliament). Although his friends, former Senators Gerry Roxas and Jovito Salonga preferred "boycott", Aquino urged his supporters and allies "outside" to organize to run 21 candidates in Metro Manila. Thus his political party, dubbed "Lakas ng Bayan" (People's Power), was born, with a fighting acronym that was more than appropriate: "LABAN". Ninoy was allowed one television "interview" on "Face the Nation" (hosted by Ronnie Nathanielsz) and proved to a startled and impressed populace that imprisonment had neither dulled his rapier-like tongue nor dampened his fighting spirit. Foreign correspondents and diplomats asked what would happen to the LABAN ticket. People agreed that LABAN would win on Election Day, but lose the next day.

Related Topics:
1978 - Interim Batasang Pambansa - Gerry Roxas - Boycott - Metro Manila - Lakas ng Bayan - LABAN - "Face the Nation" - Ronnie Nathanielsz - Populace

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In early 1980, about mid-March, he suffered his first heart attack - the attrition of being locked up seven years in cage, in solitary confinement at that (a cruel punishment for an extroverted and naturally gregarious individual), the unremitting test of wills between him and Marcos and the Military Tribunal, which had finally condemned him, had at last exacted their toll on his body. At the Philippine Heart Center, Ninoy suffered another attack and the doctors were able to take his ECG right then and there. They found out he had blocked arteries. The director of the Heart Center did not want to operate Ninoy because he did not want to be involved in such a controversial matter. Besides, Ninoy refused to submit himself to any surgery at the Heart Center, preferring to either go to the United States to have a surgery or to return to Fort Bonifacio and die. On May 8, 1980, Imelda Marcos came to Ninoy's hospital room. She asked him if he would like to leave that evening for the U.S., but not before agreeing on two covenants: 1.) That if he leaves, he will return; 2.) While in America, he should not speak out against the Marcos regime. She then ordered General Fabian Ver and Mel Mathay to make the necessary arrangements for passports, visas and plane tickets for the Aquino family. Ninoy was rushed to his home on Times Street in a closed van to wash up and pack up and was hustled on to the airport to catch a plane for the U.S. that very same day, accompanied by Cory and his family.

Related Topics:
1980 - Heart attack - Solitary confinement - Military Tribunal - Philippine Heart Center - ECG - Arteries - May 8, 1980 - Imelda Marcos - America - Fabian Ver - Mel Mathay - Times Street

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Ninoy was operated on in Dallas, Texas and not only recuperated speedily but was walking within two weeks and making plans to fly to Damascus, Syria to contact Muslim leaders just five weeks after. When he reiterated that he was returning to the Philippines, he received a message from the Palace saying that it would be all right for him to extend this medical furlough. Eventually, Aquino decided to renounce his two covenants with Malacañang "because of the dictates of higher national interest". Afterall Ninoy added, "a pact with the devil is no pact at all".

Related Topics:
Dallas - Texas - Damascus - Syria - Philippines - Malacañang - Devil

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Ninoy spent three happy years in U.S. "exile", setting up house with Cory and the kids in Newton, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. On fellowship grants from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he worked on the manuscripts of two books and gave a series of lectures in school halls, classrooms and auditoriums. He rocketed all over the U.S. delivering speeches critical of the Marcos government. Marcos and his officials, in turn, accused Ninoy of being the "Mad Bomber" behind a rash of bombings that had erupted in Metro Manila in 1981 and 1982. Aquino denied that he was advocating bloody revolution, but warned that new Oppositionists were threatening to use violence soon. He urged Marcos to "heed the voice of conscience and moderation", and declared that he was willing to lay his own life on the line.

Related Topics:
Boston - Massachusetts - Harvard University - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Manuscripts - Government - "Mad Bomber" - 1981 - 1982

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Even as Senator Aquino was recognized as the most prominent of President Marcos's political opponents, and he was regarded by many in the years prior to martial law as a representative member of the entrenched traditional political system. While atypically telegenic, he was not known to be immune to the ambitions, excesses or abuses associated with the ruling political class. However, his years of imprisonment, including periods of solitary confinement, had a profound, life-changing effect on his character. He drew strength from traditional Catholic devotions and renewed inspiration from the writings of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. As a result, the remainder of Aquino's personal and political life would undertake a noticeable evangelical sheen. He became an outspoken proponent of non-violence as a means of combatting the Marcos regime. Some remained skeptical as to Aquino's redirected spiritual focus, yet this aspect of his life has had an apparent effect on his wife's subsequent political career, and somewhat eased the subsequent emergence of Senator Aquino as a modern-day martyr, joining the ranks of Dr. Jose Rizal and other Philippine heroes.

Related Topics:
Martial law - Catholic - Mohandas Gandhi - Martin Luther King Jr. - Martyr - Jose Rizal

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