Ninoy Aquino Day

So after coming to work today, I was browsing through my social media webpages when this image came up, dating that today is Ninoy Aquino Day, which is a holiday that most Filipinos celebrate.

Growing up as a child, both my parents and grandparents told me about the history behind this day, or at least from their perspective about how this holiday came about. The general story that I've been brought upon was that Ninoy Aquino was an politician who, at the time, went against the rulings of dictatorship by the hands of Marcos whom both of my parents and grandparents thought of as an 'evil' ruler. After a while, Ninoy was exiled to the USA for a period of time.

After staying in the US, Ninoy flew back to the Philippines, in which he was assassinated right as he got of the plane. This sparked an revolution within the Philippines, in which we like to call 'People Power', ending the Marcos regime, and creating the government that the Philippines has today.

But, as I grow older, I've read upon media that others believed that Marcos was the 'good guy'. He was the one that tried to help our country develop into something better with his dictatorship because people perceive that Aquino was corrupted, and is to blame for the poor economy that the Philippines is struggling in today's society.

Part of me wants to believe my family and what they perceive as true, but another part of me wants to find out factual parts in which these events occurred, and why others want to believe one way or another and what I should I believe in.

I do believe though that these two men did great in promoting development in the country but lost their way somewhere down the road. We don't fully know if all these accusations about them are all true. It's not an issue anymore who is the good guy here but, it's about the lesson the people should learn. Events like these are repeated over the centuries around the world, and as today's society we should really learn from them, and stop the perpetual cycle that always happens.

We shouldn't blame what has become of our country in those men. All citizens of Philippines has a part to carry, and we are all responsible in some way, shape or form.

I would like to hear other people's thoughts on the matter, especially from those who might not know too much of the matter, or those who like to shed some more light upon this matter.

Questions, concerns, comments, or criticisms are very much welcome. Thanks to anyone that posts.

~Saka

Well, for me, I think that Marcos' did a good job since he had boosted our country's economy during his tenure.

that's enj drawing. I'm fan of enj I did a thread dedicated to her as my idol maybe 2 years ago. lol

on Topic.
Marcos was a dictator yes, our country was the 2nd if im not mistaken in asia ranking. but the poorest of the poor was suffering. middle class people like me was just having normal lives. and marcos is stealing all the money. and has strict rules
implemented on government official. media was controlled.

nonoy/aquino regime till today.
The people is free economy is going down.
all government official is stealing our money to the top going to the bottom of the pyramid. people is still voting this government officials. middle class like me is still living normally. media is free and internet is free. you can do social rants without getting killed.

The story I'm told was that Marcos was the good guy... at first. His first two terms were good for the country but eventually the power went to his head, then Aquino comes along and the rest is history.

Classic case of: "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

The politics in this fucking country is just one big circle jerk. It's practically a fucking monarchy here without the crowns and thrones. Why the fuck are we even celebrating a guy who literally just died and did nothing significant when he was alive?

Also, on one hand there are these daft Marcos supporters who are completely oblivious to historical facts and on the other we have these zealots who support the Aquinos just because of what their father did in the past. They fucking fail to see what a joke the current president is.

The SONA he recently gave was a fucking joke.

Stay in Korea, Sakabato. I'll call when it's time to come home.

Marcos helped the country, then fucked it up with his cohorts. Aquino gets shot. Country is in an uproar and in effect, removed a madman and his lackeys. I'm not saying the Aquinos are all that great of politicians either.

That's the gist of Flip history.

Unrelated note, cool pic

Despite of marcos being a good president, I believe his mistake was oppresing the media by blocking them. It is the media that ousted him, together with the masses. Now the media commemorates much of Ninoy's death as if he was a hero (well he did an hero) and "the man who brought democracy to the nation with the expense of his life". Marcos accumulated ill-gotten wealth, yes, but he gave services in return like infrastructures and military equipment.

Yes, democracy is present in the philippines, but sorry to say that this democracy model that we own IS SHIT. South Korea has a better democracy, and is hailed by the CIA to be a "fully functioning modern democracy". Inb4 extremists hailing that infamous "Proud to be pinoy".

My mom is an aquino supporter. I was used on believing whatever she said against the Marcos regime. As I grew older, though, I got to learn the facts. Most of which when I was in college when I got a grasp of the facts (history books and the internet. We didn't have internet at home when I was at high school). Though I can't say Marcos was that good (because dictatorship), I can say that he wasn't that bad either.

During this Ninoy day, I switched on the telly for some local news. All I can hear from the large networks are tributes to the late senator, but there was this new non-mainstream channel (solar news / TV9) that displayed facts that lead to Ninoy's assasination being a cover-up of some sort. It was unclear, though, if the Marcoses were to blame. I have read a newspaper article, too, that this was a conspiracy of the US government.

The current administration was run by his son. He showed reforms to the system, including AFP's modernization and the unification of the maritime sector in the philippines. Then again, not all of these changes were good, like in the maritime sector for instance. Corruption and incompetence runs in the (maritime) administration. Hell, they can't even find out what the acronym STCW stand for, and they even released an official memorandum with this mistake and not make an erratUm about it.

It is funny though that despite Ninoy bringing democracy and freedom of information, these people can't really say that he brought back the essence of good governance, that the government is still not transparent and free of corruption. It's still shit, in my opninion. Ever wonder why most flips want to go out of this country or marry a foreigner?



With that being said, saka, stay where you are and have that good life of yours outside flip. Don't go back here to settle down.






By the way, we're still using the same equipment despite of AFP's modernization program. Last time I went inside BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (Hamilton-class cutter), they boasted their "state of the art" smoke detectors.

Wow.

Modern ships already have those as stated by the SOLAS (safety of life at sea) regulations. There's even flame detectors near boilers which detects fire faster.