Ninoy honored with int'l commemorative coin

The late senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. will be honored with a newly minted commemorative gold coin by Meyer’s Mint of Germany as commissioned by Gold Quest International on the 20th anniversary of his martyrdom.

To be launched on August 19, the commemorative gold coin is the sixth in the premiere series of Gold Quest International’s “Champions for Peace.”

The series honors men and women who have made valuable contributions to world peace and human development.

The other “Champions for Peace” are Pope John Paul II, Mahatma Gandhi, Princess Diana, John F. Kennedy and Mother Teresa.

Former President Corazon C. Aquino will receive the Benigno S. Aquino Jr. commemorative gold coin from Bernhard Meyer, B.H. Meyer’s Mint chairman and Gold Quest International Network Development director; Joseph Bismark, who will arrive for the launch; and Christopher Carrion, founding chairman of the Spirit of edsa Foundation, the local partner for the project.

Aquino was honored for his aspirations for freedom and peace, which inspired the Filipinos to seek and act toward attaining democracy. At an age when most young men had nothing more in their minds than getting by in school, he was already a two-time recipient of the Philippine Legion of Honor, the highest honor accorded to civilians by the Philippine government. At 17, he was a foreign correspondent for The Manila Times reporting on the Korean War.

He rose meteorically through sheer brilliance and charisma in the national political scene, becoming the youngest mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac, the youngest vice governor of the province and youngest senator. He won a Ten Outstanding Young Men award for public service and was on his way to becoming Ferdinand Marcos’s successor as president when he was imprisoned when martial law was declared.

For seven and a half years he was incarcerated but he was never cowed by the dictatorship. He made peace, particularly to his countrymen, his special quest and believed that his beloved country could be freed from the shackles of martial law through peaceful means.

His murder at the airport tarmac at the hands of government soldiers, which came just as he was going home to seek peace and freedom for his people, awoke the country from years of apathy and fear.