IT’S THE time of the year when the death of a Malaysian citizen, a certain Marcial Bonifacio, is celebrated as a public holiday in these islands.
The “devotees to the cult of the yellow ribbon” claim that Marcial Bonifacio is their hero Ninoy Aquino. Perhaps. But the passport of the corpse on the tarmac that day bore the name Marcial Bonifacio, a Malaysian citizen.
Today, Aug. 21, is a special non-working holiday, supposedly commemorating the assassination of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., the husband of former president Corazon Aquino.
Just because he died that does not make him a hero. Not that I’m complaining about the holiday; any day off from work is always a welcome respite.
Ninoy Aquino a.k.a. Marcial Bonifacio is not a hero. Dying for political ambitions is not heroic. He was just another opportunistic politician who entered politics to fulfil his personal ambitions and save “Hacienda Luisita” at all cost. He was the classic demagogue who spent his time as an elected public official making himself look good while his political rivals look bad.
Marcial Bonifacio a.k.a. Ninoy Aquino is a hero because the Filipino people were told that he is a hero.
Ninoy Aquino vehemently opposed then President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. for two things – he wanted to become President of the Republic and Marcos was his main stumbling block, and the lease from the government of Hacienda Luisita was about to expire and President Marcos already served noticed that it would not be extended and the government wanted it back.
He was so desperate in wanting to become president that he even said in one of his speeches that he was all for a bloody revolution to bring Marcos down.
Take note that he was convicted for treason alongside Bernabe Buscayno a.k.a. NPA Kumander Dante who happened to be a former head of security of Hacienda Luisita, and guess where the NPA was founded. You guessed it right, somewhere in Tarlac, perhaps Hacienda Luisita.
The coincidence is uncanny.
Ninoy Aquino was a congressman and a senator and during his time as a member of both legislative bodies not a single bill or law was passed coming from him.
If that sounds familiar, he had a son and namesake, more popularly known as Noynoy Aquino, who also was a congressman and a senator for a combined 12 years but there was not a single bill or law passed to his name.
The late Ninoy Aquino spent his time in the Senate grandstanding doing privilege speeches denouncing then President Marcos.
For the uninitiated a short background on Hacienda Luisita:
Ninoy helped brokered the purchase of Hacienda Luisita, a 6,453-hectare sugar plantation and the biggest hacienda in the country, for his wife’s family in 1957. He later on became the Hacienda’s administrator.
In return for the family agreeing to distribute Hacienda Luisita’s land to small farmers by 1967, the purchase received preferential treatment from the Philippine government, which included a loan package from the Philippine Central Bank and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). However, the family successfully resisted the distribution of land to small farmers, including during the period of Marcos government (1965-1986).
You see why it was imperative upon Ninoy Aquino to bring then President Marcos down just like why his nincompoop son who later on became President also had the late Chief Justice Renato Corona impeached? Yeah baby, it was all about Hacienda Luisita.
Ninoy Aquino never became President but he inflicted upon us the New People’s Army (NPA) and this more than 50 years insurgency, his incompetent wife Cory who became President and his nincompoop son Noynoy who also became President.
Funny thing is that after his wife became president, she revived the already dying insurgency by releasing from jail the late Joma Sison and other top NPA commanders.
Meanwhile, then President Cory and her nincompoop son could not be bothered to find out who had their so-called hero assassinated./PN
