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Senate
Bill No. 2356 - Ninoy Aquino Holiday
EXPLANATORY NOTE Former
Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was murdered on August 21, 1983 at
the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport. On
that day, Ninoy had come home from exile in the US to bring a message of
peace to the then authoritarian ruler of the land Ferdinand E. Marcos. He
had intended to persuade Mr. Marcos to restore freedom and democracy to
the land because of his apprehension that unless the latter would do so
voluntarily, a violent national upheaval would overturn Mr. Marcos’
authoritarian rule and would cause widespread death and destruction to
the nation. But
for the reason mentioned above, Ninoy failed to deliver his message of
peace to Mr. Marcos personally. His
message of peace was, nonetheless, received and accepted by the people
for what it was meant to be: a proposal for a peaceful transition from
authoritarian rule that Mr. Marcos had established in 1972 to democratic
governance based on the free exercise of popular suffrage, the
protection of human rights and the restoration of the civil and
political rights of the people. As
a consequence of Ninoy’s supreme sacrifice, the people began to work
in earnest for the peaceful restoration of freedom and democracy to the
land – determined that no threat, intimidation or actual force would
prevent them from achieving their end. Thus,
even as Mr. Marcos still ruled the land with an iron hand, people by the
tens of thousands filed past Ninoy’s bier in the days after his
assassination to show their revulsion to his murder and people by the
hundreds of thousands joined and witnessed his funeral procession to
show that the dictatorship held no dread for them. This
fearless and public show of support for the cause of freedom and
democracy espoused by Ninoy stirred up the latent passions for freedom
and democracy of millions more throughout the land who merely bided
their time in grief waiting for the opportunity to demonstrate that they
preferred democracy to dictatorship and freedom to autocratic rule. The
opportunity came in January of 1986 when Mr. Marcos called for a “snap
election” to the presidency. The
opposition fielded Ninoy’s widow, Cory” C. Aquino to challenge Mr.
Marcos for the presidency. It
was clear in the weeks leading up to election day that Cory Aquino had
clearly been the people’s choice. Mr.
Marcos believed otherwise. On cue, his Commission on Elections went into
action and fraudulently counted the votes in Mr. Marcos’ favor. In
turn, the Batasan Pambansa, rubber-stamped the Comelec count in favor of
Mr. Marcos and proclaimed him as the winner of the snap presidential
election. It
was, thus, inevitable that a confrontation between the Marcos
administration and the people arose. Despite
palpable evidence that the Marcos administration was subverting the
people’s verdict at the polls that could have sufficiently provoked a
violent response, the people nonetheless opted to confront the problem
in a peaceful, public and non-violent manner as Ninoy had suggested. Thus,
shortly after Mr. Marcos’ proclamation as the winner of the snap
presidential election, millions of unarmed people coming from all walks
of life and inspired by Ninoy’s message of peace demonstrated at EDSA
at the spot where there now stands the EDSA Shrine calling for the
former’s removal. That
massive demonstration – peaceful, public and non-violent – is now
known as the 1st People Power demonstration at EDSA. History
records that the 1st People Power demonstration at EDSA
successfully ended the authoritarian rule of Mr. Marcos on February 26,
1986 with hardly a bullet fired or a drop of blood shed. 19
years after the deed, it is now nationally acknowledged that the death
of Ninoy had been the single most important factor that propelled the
peaceful restoration of democracy and freedom to the land. Such
a noble and heroic deed needs to be officially remembered and formally
commemorated by the nation to inspire the people especially the youth of
the land to uphold the values of peace, freedom and democracy which
Ninoy had espoused and for which he had paid the supreme sacrifice. It
is for the reasons stated above that it is recommended that S.B. No.
2356 declaring August 21 of every year as a national holiday in honor of
Benigno S. Aquino, hero and martyr to the cause of peace, freedom and
democracy be approved. AQUILINO
Q. PIMENTEL JR.
AN
ACT DECLARING AUGUST 21 OF EVERY YEAR AS THE BENIGNO "NINOY"
AQUINO NATIONAL HOLIDAY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Reprsentatives in Congress
assembled: SECTION
1.
Benigno S. Aquino Day.
August 21 of every
year hereafter is hereby declared as Benigno S. Aquino Day. SECTION
2.
National Holiday.
August 21 shall be
commemorated as a national holiday. SECTION
3.
The EDSA Commission.
The EDSA Commission
that was created by Executive Order No. 82, S. 1986, shall plan and
implement appropriate ceremonies to commemorate the Benigno S. Aquino
Day throughout the nation every year. SECTION
4.
Composition of the Commission.
The EDSA Commission shall be chaired by a Cabinet Member designated by
the President and Co-Chaired by a private sector representative to be
appointed by the President The
Commission shall have eleven (11) members including the Chair who shall
be appointed by the President for
a term of six (6) years following their appointment.
They may be reappointed to another six (6) year term. Former
President Corazon C. Aquino, former President Fidel V. Ramos and Manila
Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin shall be honorary members for life of the
EDSA Commission. SECTION
5.
Funds.
The operations of the EDSA Commission shall be funded from the Budget of
the Office of the President and from private contributions.
Funds accruing to and expenses made by the EDSA Commission shall
be subject to audit by the Commission on Audit SECTION
6.
Honoraria of Commission.
The
Chair and members of the Commission shall serve without compensation.
They shall be entitled only to reasonable honoraria as may be fixed by
the Commission. SECTION
7.
Transition Period.
Until the
President decides otherwise, the composition of the EDSA People Power
Commission created under Executive Order No. 82 issued by the then
President Joseph Ejercito Estrada shall remain in force and effect. SECTION
8.
Separability Clause.
If any provision of this Act is declared null and void or
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, it shall not affect the other
provisions thereof. SECTION
9.
Effectivity.
This Act shall take effect after approval by the President subsequent to
its publication in at least one newspaper of national circulation.
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