THE most prominent of Marcos’ political rivals was Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, scion of powerful landed families in Tarlac. Aquino had built a “Superboy” reputation on a remarkable career.

He quit his studies at the Ateneo de Manila to become a Manila Times reporter at 17, was elected mayor of Concepcion at 22, governor of Tarlac at 30, and a senator of the Republic of the Philippines at 35.

He was described by my two favorite historians Mariel Francisco and Fe Maria Arriola as quick-witted and combative in a likable way, he became the nemesis of the Marcoses, lambasting Imelda’s grandiose projects and warning of Marcos’ hidden design.

In 1973, he was the likeliest successor to Marcos. He could be the first presidential aspirant from the landed elite since Sergio Osmeña. That dream did not come true because when Marcos proclaimed Martial Law on September 21, 1972, Ninoy with some 50,000 from the political opposition, the critical press, the militant students and the organized masses was arrested.

He was allowed by Marcos to go to the United States in 1980 to undergo open-heart surgery and had been living in exile in Boston, Massachusetts. He was with his wife Cory and their children. Those were their happy days but Ninoy was greatly disturbed by what was going on back in the Philippines.

In the 17 years of Marcos's rule, the Philippines got a negative reputation before the eyes of the world. There was an unprecedented extent of graft and corruption. Marcos ruled as a dictator and he appointed his relatives and close friends to positions of power in the government.

Marcos was practicing favoritism or partiality in distributing legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, etc. to his close friends and allies. There were human rights violations, widespread poverty, social inequity and rural stagnation.

Other setbacks included government overspending, rising criminality, agrarian unrest in Luzon, labor unrest, violent student activism and extrajudicial killing. Ninoy got nightmares on all these. All he said was, “the Filipino is worth dying for.” He was warned by First Lady Imelda Marcos not to go back to the Philippines because some people wanted him dead.

Despite the warning, he left Boston on August 13, 1983. He traveled under the assumed name Marcial Bonifacio, in reference to Martial Law and Fort Bonifacio where he had been jailed. On August 19, he arrived in Taipei and on August 21, he boarded China Airlines Flight 811 bound for Manila.

He was accompanied by ABC news correspondent Ken Kashihawara, along with two Japanese TV crew. In Manila, busloads of his supporters were waiting for him at the Manila International Airport together with his mother, Aurora Aquino. The plane touched down at about one o’clock in the afternoon.

He was escorted out of the plane by a Constabulary man, and two guards from the Aviation Security Command (Avsecom). They did not pass the jetway. They used the side door. The camera crew was not allowed to follow Ninoy. Suddenly a shot rang out... then a fusillade of gunfire.

Senator Aquino had been shot. The Marcos government said that the lone gunman was Rolando Galman but no one believed that story. The murder outraged the nation. The assassination of Ninoy was just the beginning of the downfall of a dictator. Today, August 21, we honor the man who would-be-president.