Talk:Benigno Aquino, Jr./summary

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Benigno Simeon Aquino Junior (November 27, 1932–August 21, 1983) was a leading opposition politician in the Philippines during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. He is popularly known as Ninoy. He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now renamed in his honor) on returning home from exile, and widow Corazon Aquino became the focus of the opposition and eventually replaced Marcos as president. He negotiated the surrender of Luis Taruc, leader of a rebel military group in 1954. In 1955, he became a Mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac at the age of 22.

At the age of 17, he was the youngest war correspondent to cover the Korean War. Because of his journalistic feats, he received a Legion of Honor award from President Elpidio Quirino at age 18.

He was the youngest municipal mayor at 22, at 27. He became the nation's youngest vice-governor; he became governor of Tarlac in 1961 at age 29, then secretary-general of the Liberal Party in 1966. In 1967 he made history becoming the youngest elected senator in the country's history at the age of 34. He was the only "survivor" of the Liberal Party that made it to the senate, which he was subsequently singled out by Marcos and his senators as their nemesis. In 1968, his first year in the Upper House, he warned that Marcos was building up "a Garrison State" by "increasinging the armed forces budget", and allowing overstaying generals and militarizing government office four years before martial law.

Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972 but announced this on the midnight of September 23. Aquino was one of the first to be arrested on charges of murder, illegal possession of firearms and subversion. On April 4, 1975, he announced that he was starting a fast to the death to protest the injustice of his military trial. He took no food, only salt tablets, sodium bicarbonate, amino acids and two glasses of water a day. Even as he grew weaker, undergoing chills and cramps, the soldiers would forcibly dragged him to the military tribunal. His family and hundreds of friends and supporters heard Mass nightly at the Santuario de San Jose in Greenhills, San Juan, praying that he would not die. Near the end, Aquino's weight had dropped from 160 to only 120 pounds. Ninoy could walk throughout the 40 days.

on November 25, 1977, Military Commission No. 2 found Aquino guilty of murder, subversion and illegal possession of firearms, and was sentenced to death by firing squad. However, Ninoy believed that Marcos would not want him to die this way. Whatever it may be, Aquino said, it will be done in another way.

[edit] campaigning from prison

In 1978, from his prison cell, he was allowed to take part in the elections for Interim Batasang Pambansa (Parliament). Although his friends, former Senators Gerry Roxas and Jovito Salonga preferred to boycott the elections, Aquino urged his supporters and allies outside to organize to run 21 candidates in Metro Manila. Thus his political party, dubbed "Lakas ng Bayan" (People's Power), was born. The party's acronym was "LABAN" (the word "laban" means "fight").

[edit] Heart attack

In mid-March [[1980], Aquino suffered his first heart attack - the result of being locked up seven years in solitary confinement. At the Philippine Heart Center, he suffered another attack and the doctors were able to take his ECG. The director of the Heart Center did not want to operate on him because he did not want to be involved in such a controversial matter. Additionally, Ninoy refused to submit himself to any surgery at the Heart Center, preferring to either go to the United States to have a surgery or to return to Fort Bonifacio and die.Ninoy was operated on in Dallas, Texas.