‘Before his heart operation in the US, Ninoy became more prayerful and started reading the Bible.’
NEARLY four decades after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, the mastermind and the main plotters have remained unidentified. Former Chief of Staff Fabian Ver and others have taken the secret to their graves.
President Bongbong Marcos and his family, of course, have no love lost for the Aquinos. But as president, he should try to bring political reconciliation, even if it means courting the objections of his allies and followers while reaping the treasured respect and adulation of a grateful nation.
US involvement in our economic, political and security affairs, whether overt or otherwise, is guided by an implicitly imperialistic foreign policy of policing and intervention. Until today, many Filipinos are still perplexed on why the Americans did not try to stop Aquino from returning to the Philippines, despite the intelligence report of an imminent threat to his life.
The CIA or the Pentagon could have urged the Marcos regime to take the necessary security measures to protect Aquino and ensure his safety. Had the US government projected that the death of Ninoy would trigger the collapse of the administration of Ferdinand Marcos.
There seemed to be a spiritual aspect to Ninoy’s “journey,” from his hunger strike while on trial to his return here on August 21, 1983 from self-exile in the US. Ninoy suddenly suffered a heart attack that necessitated a major surgery.
First Lady Imelda Marcos reportedly offered the services of the Philippine Heart Center for free, but Ninoy turned it down, reportedly telling some reporters humorously that he feared he might die in the operating room of the hospital built by Mrs. Marcos.
Before his heart operation in the US, Ninoy became more prayerful and started reading the Bible. While conducting lectures at several universities he would bump into Charles Colson, the former chief legal adviser of US President Richard Nixon, who was imprisoned for his role in Watergate and a Pentagon scandal. They had a long engaging discussion on the Bible and on the meaning of life. While in prison Colson had become a Born-Again Christian and founded a prison fellowship that would become the largest in the world.
He also started writing books on Christian transformation, the first and most prominent of which was titled “Born Again.” It became Ninoy’s favorite which he relished reading several times, changing his religious convictions – and his life.
In a TV interview by the popular Ted Koppel, Ninoy declared a powerful passage from the Book of Job in the Bible, “even if the Lord slays me, I will still trust him.”
Ninoy had the time of his life with Cory and their children in the US, enjoying a vacation like never before. He was sure it was a true blessing from God. As we know, Ninoy’s family repeatedly pleaded with him not to return to the Philippines because of the real danger from the Marcos government to arrest him once again or kill him, as the CIA intelligence report had warned.
When the China Airlines flight of “Marcial Bonifacio” landed at the Manila International Airport, its main occupant responded faithfully and fearlessly to God’s calling for him to return to his beloved nation. Like Rizal, he would not flinch in the face of death.
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On prayer, from the following evangelists. John Bunyan: “In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than words without heart. J. Hudson Taylor: “I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help him. I ended up asking Him to do His work through me.”
William Cowper: “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint (Christian) upon his knees.” The Kneeling Christian magazine: “Prayer is our highest privilege, our gravest responsibility, and the greatest power GOD has put into our hands.”