Para kay Vice Pres. Leni Robredo simbolo ng sakripisyo para sa demokrasya ang paggunita ng kamatayan ni dating Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. ngayong araw.
“Many talk about being willing to die for our country. Ninoy was one of the courageous few who actually did. His love for his homeland was blazed brightly through long years of imprisonment, of exile, and in the end, of martyrdom. Ninoy, of course, was not the only patriot who made the ultimate sacrifice so that our nation could be free again.”
Sa kanyang mensahe, kinilala rin ni Robredo ang papel ng mga nagbuwis buhay ng sibilyan noong kasasagan ng martial law ni dating Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos.
“Thousands of Filipinos fell during the dark years of dictatorship, resisting till their last breath the cruelty and corruption it brought. Thousands were estranged from their families, thrown into prison, subjected to brutality and humiliation.”
“Many of them remain nameless and unheralded in our memorials and history books. So when we celebrate the 21st of August, it is not just Ninoy Aquino we remember, but all those like him, both the nameless and the heralded, who gave of themselves so that we could be free.”
Nagbabala naman ang bise sa mga nais na baliktarin ang kasaysayan para mawalan ng saysay ang pagkamatay ni Aquino.
“These days, it has become fashionable among certain quarters to dismiss the significance of Ninoy’s sacrifice, or worse, to question the validity of the movement it inspired. These days, there are those who insist, out of self-interest or ignorance, that the Marcos regime ‘was not so bad after all,’ pushing a revised version of history that is not only dishonest but dangerous.”
“The simple truth is, Ninoy Aquino was a Filipino who gave his life for his country.”
