Robredo: Ninoy Aquino Day is for remembering all freedom fighters during Marcos dictatorship

The commemoration of the death of opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. is a recognition of all the sacrifices of those who died in fighting for freedom during the Martial law regime of the late dictator President Ferdinand Marcos, Vice President Leni Robredo said Wednesday.

"Many talk about being willing to die for our country. Ninoy was one of the courageous few who actually did. His love for his homeland was blazed brightly through long years of imprisonment, of exile, and in the end, of martyrdom. Ninoy, of course, was not the only patriot who made the ultimate sacrifice so that our nation could be free again," Robredo said in her message for Ninoy Aquino Day.

"Thousands of Filipinos fell during the dark years of dictatorship, resisting till their last breath the cruelty and corruption it brought. Thousands were estranged from their families, thrown into prison, subjected to brutality and humiliation. Many of them remain nameless and unheralded in our memorials and history books. So when we celebrate the 21st of August, it is not just Ninoy Aquino we remember, but all those like him, both the nameless and the heralded, who gave of themselves so that we could be free," Robredo added.

Aquino, a staunch critic of Marcos' martial law regime, died on August 21, 1983 after he was shot in the head while he was disembarking from a plane at the then Manila International Airport from his exile in Boston.

"In this remembrance, we express both our deepest gratitude for the sacrifices made on our behalf, and, perhaps more significantly, our persistent commitment to defend the freedom they won back for us," Robredo pointed out.

The Vice President then warned against revising history to discredit Aquino's martyrdom.

"These days, it has become fashionable among certain quarters to dismiss the significance of Ninoy’s sacrifice, or worse, to question the validity of the movement it inspired. These days, there are those who insist, out of self-interest or ignorance, that the Marcos regime 'was not so bad after all,' pushing a revised version of history that is not only dishonest but dangerous," she said.

"[But] the simple truth is, Ninoy Aquino was a Filipino who gave his life for his country," Robredo said. 

At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (former Manila International Airport) Terminal 1, a wreath was laid on Wednesday morning at the Ninoy Aquino marker showing the spot where he was killed on the tarmac. —Llanesca T. Panti/KG, GMA News