Many people know Benigno Simeon Aquino Jr. simply as Ninoy. He was born in Concepcion, Tarlac on November 27, 1932, to Senator Benigno Aquino Sr. and Aurora Aquino.
The young Ninoy displayed a talent for words. He became a reporter for the Manila Times at age 17. A year later,he became the Times’ Korean War correspondent.
His charisma made it easy for him to enter politics. After marrying Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco in 1954, he became the youngest mayor of Concepcion at 22. At 26, he became Tarlac’s Vice-Governor. Four years later, he was elected Governor by a wide margin. He became known as the “Wonder Boy of Philippine Politics.”
A few days before he turned 35, Ninoy became the youngest person ever elected to the Philippine Senate. He was the only opposition candidate to win a Senate seat, as President Marcos’s Nacionalista Party had swept the elections. But Ninoy did not shy away from being an outspoken critic of Marcos.
When Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, Ninoy was arrested then imprisoned in Fort Bonifacio and Fort Magsaysay. He was tried before a military tribunal, falsely accused of murder and having Communist ties. In protest, Ninoy went on a 40-day hunger strike that severely weakened him. Still, the tribunal sentenced Ninoy to death by firing squad. After an international outcry, Marcos was forced to retract the death sentence, but he did not order Ninoy’s release.
Ninoy was imprisoned for a total of seven years and seven months. Then in 1980, he suffered a heart attack. Doctors recommended that he undergo bypass surgery. Ninoy was wary of getting an operation at a government hospital, and requested permission to go to Dallas, Texas, for surgery. After much hesitation, Marcos agreed.
The operation in Dallas was successful. Ninoy then went on self-exile for three years. He and his family moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where Ninoy received prestigious fellowships from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 1983, with his U.S. visa about to expire, Ninoy thought of returning to the Philippines. The Marcos government tried to prevent his return by revoking his passport and threatening to deport him. Ninoy even received a warning that there was a Communist plot to assassinate him.
Ninoy was not daunted by the warnings. He acquired two passports, one of which bore the name “Marcial Bonifacio.” The name stood for “Martial Law” and “Fort Bonifacio.” He left the U.S. on August 14, 1983 and stopped over at several cities before arriving in Manila on August 21. He was escorted out of the plane by Marcos’s soldiers.
As Ninoy was led down to the tarmac, a shot rang out. Several more shots were fired. Witnesses later saw two bodies lying on thetarmac: that of Ninoy and a man in a blue shirt. The man in the blue shirt was Rolando Galman. The government claimed that Galman was a Communist, that he shot Ninoy, and that the soldiers had killed him on the spot.
Many people were suspicious of the government’s claims. A witness stated that she had seen a soldier hold a gun up to Ninoy’s head. Ninoy’s assassination underwent many investigations, but to this day, it is not publicly known who pulled the trigger.
Ninoy believed that courage is contagious. Millions of people were indeed infected by Ninoy’s courage to come home and face Marcos. Over the next three years, massive rallies and boycotts were held to protest the policies of the Marcos government. On February 25, 1986, Marcos was ousted through the peaceful People Power revolution. Cory Aquino, who continued her husband’s fight for peace and justice, was sworn in as the new President of the Philippines.

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16 pages : illustrations (colored) ; 26 cm.