Don’t involve Ninoy in escalating political rift - family

Metro Manila, Philippines – Former Senator Bam Aquino made an appeal on Wednesday, Nov. 27, calling a halt to attempts to drag his late uncle, ex-Sen. Ninoy Aquino, in the widening political rift between the two highest officials of the land.

In a tribute message on the day of Aquino’s 92nd birth anniversary, the former lawmaker said while the Aquino clan is still left without justice, those who truly loved Ninoy must continue what he fought for.

“Isang patas at tapat na lipunan. Abot-kayang edukasyon para sa kabataan. Isang gobyernong walang bahid ng korapsyon at isang mapayapang bayan na malaya sa banta at karahasan. Ito ang mga ipinaglaban ni Ninoy Aquino na kailangan pa rin nating ipatuloy na ipaglaban ngayon,”

[Translation: A fair and honest society. Affordable education for the youth. A government free from corruption and a peaceful nation, free from threats and violence. These are the ideals that Ninoy Aquino fought for, and these are the ideals we must continue to fight for today]

Vice President Sara Duterte earlier dragged the family of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. into the assassination case of Aquino, who was killed by a lone gunman on Aug. 21, 1983 on the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport. To this date, it hasn’t been proven that the Marcoses are responsible for the assassination of Aquino.

In a media briefing over the weekend, Duterte said she had commissioned someone to kill Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, if she herself gets murdered - which she later claimed as “taken out of logical context”.

The Aquino family earlier said it does not tolerate killings and any form of violence.

“Hanggang sa kanyang huling araw, naniniwala si Ninoy sa lakas ng mapayapang pakikibaka at noong 1986, ito ang nagpalaya sa atin mula sa kalupitan at kasakiman ng diktadura,”

[Translation: Until his last breath, Ninoy believed in the power of a peaceful struggle, and in 1986, it was this belief that freed us from the cruelty and greed of the dictatorship]