Ninoy's family: We reject any threats of violence, murder

The family of the late former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. said on Tuesday that it opposes any threats of violence or murder.

“Si Ninoy Aquino na siguro ang pulitikong nakaranas ng pinakamatinding panggigipit mula sa mga Marcos. Karapat-dapat na sila'y panagutin para sa kanya at sa libu-libo pang dinakip, tinortyur, at pinatay sa panunungkulan ni [Ferdinand] Marcos Sr.,'' the family said.

(Ninoy Aquino was the politician who probably suffered the most under the Marcos family's oppressive regime. They should be held accountable for that and for the thousands who were arrested, tortured, and killed during the Marcos Sr. regime.)

"Gayunpaman, hanggang sa kanyang huling araw, naniwala si Ninoy sa lakas ng mapayapang pakikibaka, at noong 1986, ito ang nagpalaya sa atin mula sa kalupitan at kasakiman ng diktadura. Ito rin ang paninindigan ng naiwan niyang pamilya. Mariin naming tinututulan ang anumang bantang karahasan o pagpaslang,” they added.

(However, until his last days, Ninoy believed in peaceful resistance, and in 1986, this freed us from oppression and greediness of the dictatorship. The family shares this principle. We strongly reject any threats of violence or murder.)

The family also called on the public to pray for the country.

The Aquinos' statement came after a day Vice President Sara Duterte accused the family of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the only son and namesake of the elder Marcos, of masterminding Aquino's assassination in 1983.

"Oo, di ba, pumalag nga iyong buong bayan nu'ng pinatay ng pamilya nila si Benigno Aquino Jr.," the Vice President told reporters on the sidelines of the House panel inquiry on the use of her office's budget.

(Yes, didn't the entire nation push back when their family killed Benigno Aquino Jr.?)

Duterte made the remark when she was asked to respond to Marcos' statement that he would block "criminal attempts" to his life.

Such a response from Marcos Jr. was prompted by the Vice President’s statements that she already hired an assailant to kill the President, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez in the event that she is killed.

Aquino was assassinated on August 21, 1983, at the then-Manila International Airport. His death sparked mass protests against the President's father, Ferdinand Sr., who had placed the country under Martial Law from 1972 to 1981 but ruled until he was ousted through a people power revolt in February 1986.

According to a Vera Files report published earlier on GMA News Online, the Marcos patriarch designated the Agrava Commission to investigate Aquino's assassination.

The Commission blamed the incident on a military conspiracy led by Marcos' cousin, then-Armed Forces Chief of Staff Fabian Ver.

In December 1985, the Sandiganbayan acquitted Ver and his 25 co-accused.

When the late senator's wife, Corazon Aquino, became president in 1986, the case was reopened, and 16 soldiers were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder.

Aquino would have turned 92 on Wednesday, November 27. —VBL, GMA Integrated News