STATEMENT OF LIBERAL PARTY PRESIDENT SEN. KIKO PANGILINAN IN COMMEMORATION OF THE PLAZA MIRANDA BOMBING AND THE ASSASSINATION OF NINOY AQUINO

Sa araw na ito, dalawang makasaysayang pangyayari ang ginugunita ng bawat Liberal: Ang pambobomba sa miting de avance ng Partido sa Plaza Miranda noong 1971, at ang pagpaslang kay Ninoy Aquino sa tarmac ng Manila International Airport noong 1983.

Simula pa lang, malinaw nang ipinarating ng diktadura na hindi madali ang tatahaking landas ng sino mang mangangahas na pumalag. Laman ng labindalawang taong naghihiwalay sa Plaza Miranda at pagpaslang kay Ninoy ang lahat ng uri ng karahasan at paniniil — sa mga institusyon ng pamahalaan, sa mga mamamayan, sa mga kasama natin sa Partido. Violence was the dictatorship's way of decimating hope as our forebears struggled for the nation's freedom. At times, it even seemed to work: The Plaza Miranda bombing and Ninoy's assassination challenged not only the Party but our nation's collective faith in democracy. Many questioned the cause, and wondered if it was truly worth overcoming the odds stacked impossibly high against them.

Still, we commemorate today because it is proof that we pushed through and endured. Sa kabila ng lahat, hindi nagpatinag ang Pilipinong Liberal: Mahigit isang dekada ng dahas at paniniil ang sinuong ng mga nauna sa atin, sa ngalan ng kalayaang tinatamasa na natin ngayon. To remember Ninoy and Plaza Miranda is to honor those who lived through the harrowing Marcos regime, whose stories are now being buried under the deluge of disinformation and historical distortionism perpetrated by the same selfish interests we rose against all those years ago. It reminds us to not be complacent in guarding our hard-earned freedoms. It tells us to look back and draw strength and wisdom from those who in the face of violence and oppression bravely stood up for the right thing, in hopes that we may do the same.

Lumaban, nanindigan, at pinanghawakan nila ang pangako ng isang makatao, makatarungan, at malayang Pilipinas. Ngayon, tungkulin nating ipagpatuloy at pangalagaan ang pangakong ito — choosing the ways of truth and people-orientedness over self-serving governance.

Patuloy ang paninindigan ng Liberal: Kaisa ang sambayanan, padayon tayo sa tuwid na daan, sa ngalan ng kalayaan, katuwiran, at bayanihan.