On The 37th Year Of Ninoy Aquino’s Murder, iWant To Stream Documentary On His Last Days

To commemorate the 37th anniversary of the assassination of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., video-on-demand service iWant will stream for free a digitally remastered version of a documentary featuring the final interview of his widow, former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino.

 Former senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, a nephew of the slain opposition leader, promoted the screening of The Last Journey of Ninoy in a Twitter post on Aug. 20, the eve of the national holiday commemorating the death of Ninoy Aquino.

 According to the Ninoy & Cory Aquino Foundation, the 55-minute documentary, directed by Indie.Go Media founder Jun Reyes, “chronicles the final days of the late senator.”

 “Relive his final moments as told through the final interview of his beloved wife, Cory,” the foundation said.

 Incidentally, iWant is the online service that features the media properties of ABS-CBN Corp. online, after its free-to-air broadcast operation was ordered shut down in May following the expiration of its franchise. ABS-CBN was the station that first broadcast the film to nationwide audiences in August 2009.

 The documentary was first screened in a Makati City theater on Aug. 21, 2009, three weeks after Cory succumbed to colorectal cancer and boosted her son, then senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III, as a leading candidate to replace Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as president.

 It was a finalist in the 2009 Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival and in the 2009 New York Film Festival.

 Ninoy was killed on the tarmac of what was then called the Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983, together with Rolando Galman, who was tagged by the Marcos regime as his assassin.

 Ninoy had returned from the United States after three years of self-imposed exile. He said he wanted to go home to help members of the opposition prepare for the elections in 1984 under dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

 An Aug. 15, 2009 article published by The Philippine STAR titled “Ninoy refused to sneak into RP” written by Joanne Rae Ramirez offered a preview of the documentary. According to the film, Ninoy was offered safe passage through Mindanao by the Sultan of Johor in Malaysia, but he refused because he wanted to arrive in full view of the people.

 His widow recounted: “The last thing he (Ninoy) said was ‘But if they make a mistake and have me killed, then that is the best thing that will happen to me… I’ve always wanted to die for our country.’ ” At the time of her last interview to narrate the details of her husband’s journey in March 2009, Cory was undergoing chemotherapy sessions.

 The report said the film uses reenactments for the part regarding the last days of Ninoy’s exile in the United States up to his arrival in Manila.

 Ramirez wrote that it was the last interview that Cory ever gave, and in fact, it was an interview she insisted on. When the makers of the documentary asked for details of that fateful journey, she told her eldest daughter Ballsy Cruz, “Why don’t they just come and interview me?” She took a break from her chemotherapy sessions to narrate details about Ninoy’s final journey.

 Unfortunately, Cory passed away on Aug. 1, 2009 and did not get to see the interview or the documentary.

 “There are only two narrators in this documentary,” Ramirez quoted Cory’s nephew Rafael Lopa, executive director of the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation, as saying. “Ninoy and Cory, and sometimes, Marcos.” Lopa was referring to the sound bites from dictator Ferdinand Marcos taken from news footage.

 Asked about their family’s planned activities for today, Noynoy said they already held a commemorative mass on Aug. 1 via Zoom for both their parents “so as not to burden or impose on those who would want to join us.”

 “This is especially so in this time of the [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic),” Noynoy said.

 Meanwhile, the Ateneo de Manila University will hold various online events throughout the day to commemorate Ninoy Aquino Day.

 A “Mass for Hope and Healing” will be held at 8 a.m., followed by the formation of a human rosary and a noise barrage at 8:30 a.m.

 At 2 p.m., Ateneo alumni will hold an “Online Kwentuhan” with current students “about activism and martyrdom.”

 Sen. Risa Hontiveros, journalist John Nery, Kickstart Ventures vice chairman Minette Navarrete, and sculptor An Alcantara are among the alumni who will take part in the session to be livestreamed over the Facebook page of the Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng mga Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila.

 “This Ninoy Aquino Day, we’re looking back at the stories of Ateneo alumni in the 1980s as they share what it was like to be part of a historical catalyst for the Philippines,” ADMU said.

 This year’s commemoration of Ninoy Aquino Day comes amid a push by President Duterte’s son, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as the Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas, drawing flak on social media due to its timing in the middle of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

 In filing House Bill No. 7031 on June 25, Congressman Duterte cited the need for “a more representative branding for the international gateway of our country.”

 President Duterte is allied with the Marcos family and personally ordered the burial of the dictator’s remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, ignoring the July 12, 2016 study of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines that spoke of Marcos’ lies regarding his military record. Duterte said a former president of the republic deserved burial in the heroes’ cemetery.