The Aquino Center and Museum is encouraging the public to watch the documentary about the final days of the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., who was assassinated on August 21, 1983.
The digitally-remastered documentary film is available for free streaming for a limited period via iwant.ph.
The film, directed by award-winning director Jun Reyes, premiered on August 21, 2009.
It recalls the final days of the late senator in 1983, starting on August 12 when he was still in exile in the US until August 21 when he was assassinated at the age of 50 at the Manila International Airport, now named Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor.
The film also includes an interview with his wife, the late Philippine President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, who passed away on August 1, 2009, days before the release of "The Last Journey of Ninoy."
The film features rare footage and pictures, including the wedding photos of Ninoy and Cory.
The film was a finalist for two awards in 2009: the New York Film Festival and the Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival.
About Ninoy
Ninoy was born on November 27, 1932 to Senator Benigno Aquino Sr. and Aurora Lampa Aquino in Concepcion, Tarlac.
His biography on the Ninoy Aquino website says he took up pre-law at the Ateneo de Manila and law (4th year) at the University of the Philippines.
He became Manila Times newspaper's war correspondent at 17 and was assigned to cover the Korean war.
In 1954, he became a special assistant to President Ramon Magsaysay and negotiated the surrender of Luis Taruc, Supremo of the Hukbong Laban sa Hapon, a guerilla movement formed by Central Luzon farmers.
On October 11 of the same year, he married Cory, who became president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992.
They had five children, including one who also became president of the Philippines -- Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.
In 1955, a year after Ninoy and Cory's marriage, he was elected as the youngest mayor of his hometown of Concepcion, Tarlac at age 22.
Four years later, he was elected as the youngest Vice Governor of Tarlac at age 26. Two years later, he became the governor when the Governor resigned. In 1963, he was elected Governor of Tarlac and became known as the "Wonder Boy of Philippine politics.
In 1968, he became the country's youngest senator at age 35.
In 1972, he was arrested under the Marcos regime and was imprisoned for more than seven years, mostly in solitary confinement.
In 1980, he was allowed to go to the US to undergo a triple bypass operation. In the US, he became a fellow at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies.
In 1983, he wanted to return to the Philippines despite kn owing that his life would be at risk. He was assassinated on August 21, 1983 as he was disembarking from a China Airlines plane.
The day of his death would later be honored as Ninoy Aquino Day.
According to the Official Gazette, Ninoy prepared the speech below for his arrival in the Philippines in 1983:
I have returned on my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and freedoms through non-violence.
I seek no confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national reconciliation founded on justice.
I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political mentors.
A death sentence awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death penalties, have been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the courts.
I could have opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.
I never sought nor have I been given any assurance, or promise of leniency by the regime. I return voluntarily armed only with a clear conscience and fortified in the faith that in the end, justice will emerge triumphant.
According to Gandhi, the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.
Three years ago when I left for an emergency heart bypass operation, I hoped and prayed that the rights and freedoms of our people would soon be restored, that living conditions would improve and that blood-letting would stop.
Rather than move forward we have moved backward. The killings have increased, the economy has taken a turn for the worse and the human rights situation has deteriorated.
During the martial law period, the Supreme Court heard petitions for habeas corpus. It is most ironic after martial law has allegedly been lifted, that the Supreme Court last April ruled it can longer entertain petitions for habeas corpus for persons detained under a Presidential Commitment Order, which covers all so-called national security cases and which under present circumstances can cover almost anything.
The country is far advanced in her times of trouble. Economic, social and political problems bedevil the Filipino. These problems may be surmounted if we are united. But we can be united only if all the rights and freedoms enjoyed before September 21, 1972 are fully restored.
The Filipino asked for nothing more, but will surely accept nothing less, than all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the 1935 Constitution – the most sacred legacies from the founding fathers.
Yes, the Filipino is patient, but there is a limit to his patience. Must we wait until that patience snaps?
The nationwide rebellion is escalating and threatens to explode into a bloody revolution. There is a growing cadre of young Filipinos who have finally come to realize that freedom is never granted, it is taken. Must we relive the agonies and the bloodletting of the past that brought forth our republic or can we sit down as brothers and sisters and discuss our differences with reason and goodwill?
I have often wondered how many disputes could have been settled easily had the disputants only dared to define their terms.
So as to leave no room for misunderstanding, I shall define my terms:
1. Six years ago, I was sentenced to die before a firing squad by a military tribunal whose jurisdiction I steadfastly refused to recognize. It is now time for the regime to decide. Order my immediate execution or set me free.
I was sentenced to die for allegedly being the leading Communist leader. I am not a Communist, never was and never will be.
2. National reconciliation and unity can be achieved, but only with justice, including justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. There can be no deal with a dictator. No compromise with dictatorship.
3. In a revolution there can really be no victors, only victims. We do not have to destroy in order to build.
4. Subversion stems from economic, social and political causes and will not be solved by purely military solutions; it can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but with a more equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom.
5. For the economy to get going once again, the working man must be given his just and rightful share of his labor, and to the owners and managers must be restored the hope where there is so must uncertainty if not despair.
On one of the long corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of Archibald Macleish: “How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always and in the final act, by determination and faith.”
I return from exile and an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer—faith in our people and faith in God.
(Reprinted from The New York Times, August 22, 1983)
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