IT WAS called the “August 21 Movement” to signify the importance of the date, not of the person whose death stirred the people into action against abuse and corruption.

Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.’s assassination on his return to the Philippines on August 21, 1983 was the impetus to the movement that saw the political opposition, church, academe and private business united against the dictatorship of then president Ferdinand Marcos. The movement’s organizers could have named themselves Aquino warriors or something but they chose to go beyond the political crisis of that period. They must have thought, and rightly so, that there will be need for a movement in the country’s future.

Although the crusade nicknamed “Atom” for August 21 Movement was led by Aquino’s younger brother, Agapito or “Butz,” it wasn’t about immortalizing the slain opposition leader. The August 21 Movement, had it continued to the present, would be about society being prepared to take a stand and to demand action on illegal and immoral ways of government.

The movement of today should not need a martyr or an individual whose life is sacrificed to wake up people from apathy or indifference to the plight of others. It should be a movement to monitor government, study consequences of its decisions, and decide on a course of action that would get popular support.

Let August 21 not be about the martyred Aquino but about the lessons his time brought upon us.

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More frightening than an airport runway accident is an airport free-for-all where flights are not coordinated with the authority and an airline insists it must have priority over others.

This was one revelation that came out in press statements made Monday by Manila International Airport Authority officials. Airport general manager Ed Monreal told television news channel ANC that China’s Xiamen Air deployed four recovery flights to the airport without coordinating with authorities, adding to the congestion caused when one of its jets overshot the runway.

These four flights were among those diverted following the runway accident and later routed back to Manila. That leg of the flight to Manila, its original destination, is called the recovery flight. Monreal said there was no coordination by Xiamen Air with local authorities and the airport body had to manage the “additional congestion at the parking base.”

Xiamen Air officials apologized to the thousands of passengers left stranded when the runway had to be closed and promised to try to meet their needs. It did not say anything other than giving those still stranded water and food, and it did not mention the additional problem it caused with the recovery flights. In a way, Xiamen Air insisted it be given priority over other airlines already scheduled for arrival when the airport reopened.

This display of arrogance and blatant disregard for Philippine airport rules is shocking and dangerous.