Reli German, co-founder of August Twenty-One Movement, passes away at 86

Reli German, one of the founders of the August Twenty-One Movement and a public relations strategist, passed away on July 8. He was 86.

A granddaughter, Alex Castro, and ATOM posted about his passing.

"I love you, Lolo. Thanks for never giving up on me, and for waiting for me all these years. I love you," Castro said.

"We say goodbye to a man who helped write our history, not in textbooks, but in the streets. Aurelio 'Reli' German, co-founder of the August Twenty-One Movement and one of the architects behind the strategy that carried the 1986 Revolution to victory, has passed," ATOM said in a statement.

"He did not just witness the People Power Revolution. He helped push it. And when it came time to give our own movement a name, Butz thought of the August Twenty-One Movement, and it was Reli who coined the very acronym we carry today- ATOM. Simple, but memorable," it added.

ATOM was founded in September 1983, two months after the August 21 assassination of Ninoy Aquino.

According to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, Ninoy’s brother, the late Sen. Agapito “Butz” Aquino, and German, founded the group, which became the “vehicle to attract the middle class to join the protest movement." –NB, GMA News