Yes, even at the beginning of the day, we were aware that it is August 21st, the day we remember Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Not much was given importance to the day during Mass, but I didn’t really hope it would. For me, remembering what he has done to our country shouldn’t be forced on us. It should be voluntarily remembered, cherished… honored.
I still remember when people wore a lapel pin of either a yellow ribbon or the peace sign or Ninoy’s face itself. For the first couple of years since he passed, a lot of people wore things that made us remember him, especially during his wife Cory’s presidency. When our President’s changed, they still proclaimed Ninoy’s death as a holiday but the feeling of his presence was just gone. We had to be reminded about it, we had to be told that it’s coming up soon.
Now that his son Noynoy is the current President, we suddenly have this stronger connection with Ninoy once again. Is it because we no longer needed to be reminded because our President is reminder enough?
I only think about this now because I have a little girl. There is a “next generation” in my life who I feel may or may not know about Ninoy, depending on how we as parents go about it. I don’t want to tell her about what he did. I don’t want to tell her why he died. I want her to ask. I want her to understand. I want her to listen with her heart. I may not have voted for Noynoy, but what his parents did for the country is definitely worth knowing… by everyone, today or tomorrow.