I was browsing through some blogs we have syndicated at Philippines Today and I happened to read Jessica Zafra’s post about Ninoy Aquino’s 25th death anniversary being commemorated today, August 21. I was really surprised to realize that it has indeed been 25 years since then.
Where was I twenty five years ago today? Well, I was still in elementary. I think I was in Grade V then. We had a TV in our house, but we were listening to the radio instead as news of Ninoy’s assassination exploded all over the archipelago. I guess those were the heyday of radio broadcasting – news stories were dished out by radio newscasters faster than their television counterparts. Of course, nowadays we check out the internet instead for the latest news. Anyway, it was a really poignant memory for me, because right after my Daddy heard that Ninoy got killed, he started storming around and cursing Marcos and his government to high heavens. I remember thinking, why is he so fuming mad? As for me? Well, I didn’t even know who Ninoy Aquino was (shame on me), but it sure was saddening for me to know that he got killed just because he returned to the country! I became more interested about the country’s state of affairs afterwards.