His family issued a statement on the matter.
In a short message released on Saturday, August 17, the family of assassinated Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino, Jr. shared their thoughts on the change in the commemoration day of his 1983 assassination.
“Moving a day of commemoration will not diminish tbe fact that Ninoy died fighting for the country and the people he loved and his death sparked a revolution that ended [Ferdinand] Marcos, Sr.’s authoritarian rule,” the family said.
Their statement comes two days after President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. issued proclamation no. 655, which moved the supposed holiday on Wednesday, August 21 to Friday, August 23.
As per the advisory, this is to create a longer “long weekend,” as Monday, August 26 had also been declared a holiday in commemoration of tbe National Heroes’ Day.
HISTORY
Historically speaking, Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino was shot in an assassination attack at the tarmac of what was then-known as the Manila International Airport (MIA) on August 21, 1983.
This happened a few minutes after he deboarded a plane from Taiwan, which was his connecting flight from his original destination of Boston, Massachusetts, where he had been in exile for years following the declaration of martial rule by President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.
Aquino’s assassination later became a catalyst of the EDSA People Power Revolution in February 1986, which saw the installment of his wife Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino as the Philippines’ first female President after the Marcos family was deposed from power and forced to go on exile in Hawaii.
HOLIDAY ECONOMICS
However, the move of the commemoration date for Senator Ninoy Aquino’s assassination is not the first event to be transferred to a different day.
In November last year, the Bonifacio Day, which commemorates the birth anniversary of revolutionary Andres Bonifacio, was brought forward from its usual November 30 date to November 27.
That was done to create a long weekend, as 27th fell on a Monday, while the 30th was on a Thursday.