Ninoy Aquino & the Rise of People Power
With myself being ignorant to Philippine politics as a whole, the movie “Ninoy Aquino & the Rise of People Power” was a good introduction to this pivotal period in Philippine history.
From what I took from the movie, Benigno Aquino Jr. came from a long line of leaders, and had an innate ability to empathize with whomever he was talking to. It was upon interviewing a person the Philippine government regarded as a “communist rebel” did he realize two things:
- That “communists” and “rebels” in the Philippines don’t talk about political ideologies, they talk about suffering.
- That the majority of the Philippine people were suffering in the same way.
The movie then goes on to show Aquino slowly venturing out in to a mission of identifying anything that prevented the betterment of the Filipino people.
Years later, Marcos started funneling and hoarding money away from social and economic programs and into the pockets of his friends, thereby stopping growth and increasing poverty. After accurately predicting Marcos’ plans to declare Martial Law, Aquino was thrown in jail for 7 years.
In the meantime, South Korea’s Kim Dae Jung was jailed around the same time after speaking out against similar atrocities in South Korea. The movie notes that Cory Aquino, Benigno’s wife, wrote letters to the wife of Kim Dae Jung about their similar struggles. A few years after Aquino’s death, Kim Dae Jung soon became president of South Korea, further democratizing the country.
I can go on, but there was a lot of information in this movie. So i’d like to end my review-turned-rant with a few points that stuck out to me the most:
- Marcos had the potential to make a better Philippines, but changed his path.
- Aquino was very much inspired by Gandhi and the practice of non-violent protests to make a point.
- Aquino knew he was going to die.
“The moment you say no to tyranny, you are beginning the struggle, the long lonely road to freedom.” -Benigno Aquino Jr.
The screening was preceded by a short film called “66 Years, 2 Months, 21 Days… and Still Counting” by Mona Lisa Yuchengco.