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Thursday, February 26, 2004
Palace declares Aug. 21 as 'Ninoy Aquino Day'
MANILA -- Close to 21 years after his assassination, former Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino gets his own holiday after Malacaņang declared Aug. 21 of every year as Ninoy Aquino Day, a special non-working holiday.
As the nation celebrated the 18th anniversary of the first People Power Revolution, President Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 9256, which declares Aug. 21 as Ninoy Aquino Day.
The law finally gave recognition to the senator almost 21 years after he was assassinated the moment he stepped back on Philippine soil after years in exile in the United States.
After the signing ceremony at the People Power Monument, former president Corazon Aquino thanked President Arroyo for signing the law.
The new law requires the Edsa People Power Commission (EPPC) to hold activities in observance of Ninoy Aquino Day. The EPPC's operations will be funded by the Office of the President and by private donors.
RA 9256 is a consolidation of House Bill (HB) 5525 and Senate Bill (SB) 2586 and was sponsored by Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
"I hope we will remember the sacrifice of Ninoy and perhaps it will inspire us to also give our all for our country. I want to thank all of you for the support that you gave Ninoy and to me and I want all of us working together to make this country of ours the great country that it was meant to be," former President Aquino said.
Aquino said Filipinos should recognize and emulate her husband's sacrifice for the country.
Aquino and former President Fidel Ramos dismissed criticism that the spirit of Edsa People Power 1 has waned as shown by the sparse crowd that attended the event. Despite the presence of delegations from different towns and cities in Metro Manila, attendance was still small.
Aquino said the spirit of Edsa I "is not only confined to Edsa but in all the works of Filipinos who want to help their countrymen."
Ramos said the celebration of Edsa "has become not only nationwide but universal because it was the non-violent, peaceful People Power revolution of the Filipinos in February 1986 that sparked the light of freedom all over the world."
He said the spirit of Edsa must be embodied in the daily lives of Filipinos.
Edsa pledge
President Arroyo led the flag-raising ceremonies and the pledge of commitment to live the spirit of Edsa People Power. She also attended a mass at the Our Lady of Peace Church (Edsa Shrine) together with Aquino and Ramos at 12:15 p.m.
President Arroyo led the recitation of the "pledge of commitment" to live the spirit of people power:
"Before Almighty God and my beloved nation, I pledge to be always
thankful for the nation's freedom regained in the 1986 Edsa People
Power Revolution, born by the mercy of God and the unity of millions
of Filipinos who stood their ground, in the face of danger and death,
to defend the rights of their fellow Filipinos, and to show the world
that the way to freedom and democracy is the path of peace."
As "Heal our Land" was sung by Tex Ordonez, confetti from two helicopters showered the people attending the ceremonies.
In 1986, millions of Filipinos defied tanks and troops to support government forces that had broken away from Ferdinand Marcos.
Ills of society remain
Meanwhile, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Rosales said in his homily during the 18th anniversary of the People Power 1 that very little change took place after Edsa 1 in 1986, since more "purification" is needed to renew the governance and habits of many Filipinos today.
EDSA People Power 1 marked its 18th year, but corruption, greed and failure in governing the country remains, Rosales said.
"Take a look at our style of politics, the manner of governance and the mode of presenting leadership models this very day. You will perhaps agree that if the chosen people needed 40 years of wandering in the Sinai desert, we will doubtless need more than 18 years of our own purification from the devil of the past dictatorship and its methodical terror, greed and corruption, which besides horror, is also his legacy to our present political disillusion," Rosales said.
Rosales likewise noted that unlike the Israelites who were able to convert and renew themselves after years of wandering in the desert, "Filipinos are still wandering in their own desert."
Rosales said the past celebrations of Edsa 1 have been fiesta-like instead of marking the day through renewal and repentance.
He also said the country have never learned any lesson from the first People Power revolution.
"We have not yet learned that freedom is a gift and a responsibility.
We have yet to be taught that freedom is prepared for by an educative process of purifying people's attitudes, ideas of leadership and service," Rosales said. Marie Neri
(February 26, 2004 issue)
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