Case Study # 6:

”AUGUST 2, 1983 : THE DAY THE

PHILIPPINES SHOOKED THE
WORLD”

STUDY CONDUCTED BY:

Marlene L. Cuaresma
Joanne L. Ico
Rona Llave
Reymar M. Reyes
Francis Jeff Naron

Mr. Robert Belarmino Ramos

INSTRUCTOR
Case Study: AUGUST 21, 1983 : THE DAY THE PHILIPPINES SHOOKED THE WORLD
Conflict: NINOY AQUINO JR.’S DEATH: IS IT REALLY AN ASSASSINATION? OR A
PLANNED SUICIDE?

Topic: THE CONTROVERSIAL DEATH OF NINOY AQUINO JR.

ABSTRACT

Benigno Aquino Jr. was elected to the Philippine Senate in 1967. During his first year as
senator, Aquino began speaking out against the authoritarian rule of President Ferdinand Marcos;
Marcos in turn saw Aquino as the biggest threat to his power.

On September 23, 1972, Marcos declared martial law and ordered Aquino and others
arrested and imprisoned on trumped up charges of murder and subversion. Aquino went on a
hunger strike to protest the injustice of his military tribunal but ended the strike after 40 days.
The tribunal lasted several years, all while Aquino was still imprisoned, and on November 25,
1977, he was convicted on all charges and sentenced to death. However, Aquino and others
believed that Marcos would not allow him to be executed, as Aquino had gained a great deal of
support while imprisoned, and such a fate would surely make him a martyr for his supporters.

In 1978, while still in prison, Aquino founded his political party, Lakas ng Bayan
(abbreviated "LABAN"; English: People's Power) to run for office in the Interim Batasang
Pambansa (Parliament). All LABAN candidates lost, primarily to candidates of Marcos's party,
amid allegations of election fraud.

In March 1980, Aquino suffered a heart attack in prison. He was transported to the
Philippine Heart Center, where he suffered a second heart attack. Doctors determined he needed
coronary artery bypass surgery; however, no surgeon wanted to perform the operation out of fear
of controversy, and Aquino refused to undergo the procedure in the Philippines out of fear of
sabotage by Marcos, indicating he would either go to the United States to undergo the procedure
or die in his prison cell. On May 8, 1980, First Lady Imelda Marcos arranged for Aquino and his
family to leave for the U.S. He underwent the coronary bypass surgery in Dallas, Texas and met
with Muslim leaders in Damascus, Syria, before settling with his family in Newton,
Massachusetts.

Aquino spent the next three years in exile in the U.S., wherein he worked on manuscripts
for two books and delivered several lectures and speeches critical of the Marcos government. By
1983, news of the political situation in the Philippines led Aquino to return to his homeland, fully
aware of the danger that awaited him.

Aquino, after flying in a circuitous route from the United States to several Asian cities
such as Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to meet Malaysian Leaders, and then to Hong Kong,
boarded a China Airlines plane in Taipei and landed in Manila on August 21, 1983.
III.PROOFS
The following statement were the proofs that Ninoy’s death is a planned suicide.
The pro’s:
- Ninoy Aquino predict what will happen to happen if he get back to the Philippines,
based on his recent interview in Taipei, Taiwan and in the plane
( Chiina Airlines)
- Ninoy went to the Philippines alone and not with his family, showing that he didn’t
want his family to be implicated.
- Ninoy take a circuitous flight, not directly travel to the Philippines and he exact the
date of his arrival on August 21, 1983 exact date with the Plaza Miranda Bombing.
- The Aquino – Cojuangco family did not continued open the case.
- He died with honor, and not in a death sentence
- His wife become the president of the Philippines and we got the democracy.
- No evidence found.
- Marcos would not do that, for he know that he will be the one who are suspected by
the people.

The con’ s
- After four hours, Marcos confirmed the case closed, with Galman as the suspect
- Politically speaking, Marcos is the rival/enemy of Ninoy and a threat to his power
- The military personnel who escorted Ninoy was Marcos allied
- Imelda Marco’s statement “ If he returns to the Philippines, he will die