‘NO EFFORT WAS SPARED TO DEHUMANIZE AND DESTROY ME’

To Cory, my dearly beloved wife, my patient suffering mother, my darling children, my sisters, brothers and relatives, friends, and supporters:

I have requested my lawyers to withdraw whatever cases and motions I have in the Supreme Court. I have also vowed to continue the hunger strike I began ten days ago.

You will probably ask me why I have chosen this course of action. I owe you an explanation, not only because you have stood by me all these years, but because in my mind I feel I am entitled to your steadfast, unflinching support only when I truly deserve it.

Last April 4, when the Military Commission suddenly made a complete turn-about and forced me, against my will, to be present in proceedings which are not only clearly illegal but unjust, I said I shall have no other alternative but to go on a hunger strike in protest against a procedure that is intended to humiliate and dehumanize me, considering that all they wanted was for me to be identified as a common criminal, and not only for myself but on behalf of the many other victims of today’s oppression and injustices.

I had filed in the Supreme Court a petition for prohibition against the Military Commission since August, 1973. I had asked for an injunction days before it started its hearing on August 27, 1973. No injunction was issued by the Supreme Court and in the hearing before the Military Commission on August 27, 1973, I declared that I would not participate in the proceedings of the military tribunal. I want you to recall what I said then-that my case is unique in that more than one year before Mr. Marcos proclaimed martial law, he had publicly accused me and pronounced me guilty, on the basis of evidence which he described as “not only strong but overwhelming,” that he could have filed the charges against me with the civil courts which were not then under his control, that the trial before the military tribunal would be an unconscionable mockery because its members are subordinates of the President and are completely beholden to him, that every part of my being is against one-man rule, that I fully realize the consequences of my decision, that I have chosen to follow my conscience and accept the tyrant’s verdict. These sentiments are even more valid today than on that day when they were first uttered.

I had expected the Supreme Court in 1974 to issue a temporary injunction or even a restraining order against the Military Commission, especially after my lawyers called its attention to two press statements of Mr. Marcos before the world saying he had actually removed martial law, and that legally martial law no longer existed in the Philippines. The Government lawyers, I understand, admitted the fact that he had made those statements.

Then, last March 10, 1975, the Military Commission granted, without my knowledge and without first hearing me, a petition filed by the Prosecution to perpetuate the testimonies of unidentified witnesses against me, and scheduled the hearings on March 31 up to April 4.

As soon as I god hold of the papers, my lawyers filed with the Supreme Court an Urgent Motion dated March 24, 1975, for the issuance of a temporary restraining order against the Military Commission, on the main ground that to hear the testimonies of these witnesses would render the prohibition suit in the Supreme Court moot, and academic, since the perpetuation of testimony proceedings would actually be a part of the trial-the very question at issue in the high court.

No restraining order was issued. The Military Commission held its first hearing, as scheduled, last March 31. At the very start, I questioned the legal authority of the Military Commission to perpetuate the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses on the ground of lack of jurisdiction, and estoppel. I pointed out that to proceed would be to let our people know that Mr. Marcos, who is my accuser, is also the prosecutor and final judge of his own charges against me. The Prosecution replied that the proceedings were merely for perpetuation of testimony and were not a part of the trial.

The hearing before the Military Commission was continued on April 1, on which date the Commission brushed aside my opposition, saying that the proceedings were not a part of the trial. On the question of whether I should be present or not, it rendered a well-studied ruling that in accordance with law I need not be present.

I went back to my prison cell. To my surprise, on April 2, I received a Motion for Reconsideration from the Prosecution, asking the Commission to set aside its own ruling, and to compel me to be present. I knew in my bones that Mr. Marcos would not be satisfied with my absence-he wanted me to be humiliated and demolished frontally! Hearing was resumed on April 3, and on April 4 the Military Commission ordered that I be produced bodily before it. In a ruling that shocked me, the military tribunal reversed its own decision and held that the proceedings were now part of the actual trial, and that I must be present, even against my will. I requested for a short period of 7 days, so I could prepare, in my prison cell, a formal Motion for Reconsideration, and allow my lawyers to seek relief from the Supreme Court, but this plea for a 7-day period of suspension was denied on the spot. I thereupon announced that I would go on a hunger strike. Mr. Marcos’ favorite witness, Commander Melody, was immediately called to testify against me. This confessed murderer pointed to me as having ordered Commander Dante, in the presence of so many persons, to liquidate a barrio captain in Tarlac, who had been my loyal follower through many campaigns! Thus began the process of dehumanization.

In the meanwhile, the day before, April 3, my lawyers received a Resolution from the Supreme Court, dated April 1, stating that for “lack of a necessary quorum” of 10 justices, it could not act on my Urgent Motion for a restraining order because it involved a constitutional question.

Hearing continued in the Military Commission, with Commander Melody as the star witness. Through the controlled newspapers and the tv-radio stations, vivid accounts of my supposed crimes against society were recounted. No effort was spared to dehumanize and destroy me as Mr. Marcos’ political rival. I was supposed to be nothing more than a plain criminal.

After the hearing of April 7, I was allowed to meet my lawyers. I told them that at that point I did not need anything from the Supreme Court. Mr. Marcos had already accomplished his propaganda objective. He achieved, through his pampered witness, the purpose he set out to accomplish. My lawyers showed me a draft of a Manifestation they wanted to file. I said I did not want anything from the Supreme Court, and that the whole thing had been designed, composed and orchestrated in Malacañang. My lawyers said it was necessary to call the attention of the Supreme Court to the gross injustices committed against me, so no one could validly say later than the highest court of the land did not know anything about them. I agreed that it be filed, on that understanding.

The next day, April 8, I was brought back to the Military Commission for the resumption of the hearing. I felt very weak, due to hunger, but I had in my favor a clear conscience and a will that is ever stronger now than on the day I started my fast. Mr. Marcos’ star witness had just about finished the demolition job assigned to him. I felt that the case I had filed since 1973 in the Supreme Court had become meaningless. The dictator, with all the awesome powers of his office, had seen to that.

In the afternoon of April 8, after the adjournment of the hearing, my long-suffering wife arrived with the news that the Supreme Court had at last issued a temporary restraining order against the Commission and that there would be a hearing on the Motion for a Restraining Order on April 14, 1975. My reaction was quick, despite my increasing weakness: “This is too late and too little. I don’t need anything anymore from the. Let the military proceedings go on, as scheduled, so the whole world will see the meaning and essence of justice under martial law dictatorship.” The Prosecution had charged that the purpose of my hunger strike was to delay the taking of the testimony of their star witness. Let them eat their words-I want the star witness to go on and on, including all their other witnesses, so the whole world will see the difference between a half-truth and a complete falsehood.

On Bataan Day, April 9, I was brought again before the Military Commission. The Prosecution read the text of the restraining order and moved that the hearing be adjourned until further orders from the Supreme Court. Just what I thought! They wanted it stopped now-the whole thing has become embarrassing. I asked the permission of the Commission to say a few things. This was granted. I told them my path to God is more important than any oath I could take before men. I wanted my own testimony perpetuated, since I may have to meet my Maker shortly. (By the way, please get the full transcript of my statement.) In part, I said that I may perhaps be credited with a little intelligence. How could I possibly have ordered Dante, in the presence of so many persons, including Melody whom I had never seen or met before, to liquidate a barrio captain? I also told them I would request my lawyers not to file any petition before the Supreme Court, to withdraw the urgent motion for restraining order, and for the Military Commission to continue its hearings.

Despite my hunger strike, or probably because of it, I see with unmistakable clarity that my legal battles in the Supreme Court are now over. Mr. Marcos is the single genius, composing and directing all the proceedings, whether in the military tribunal or in the civil courts. This is the evil of one-man rule at its very worst. He has destroyed the independence of the civil courts, abolished the legislature, controlled the mass media, curtailed our cherished liberties-with the backing of the military, which, ironically, exist “for the good of the people.”

Without the Supreme Court as an obstacle, I have decided to go on my hunger strike and place my fate and my life squarely in the hands of my accuser, prosecutor, and judge-Mr. Marcos. Thus the plain, naked truth will be made clear to our people and to the rest of the world.

As I said, my hunger strike is not for myself alone, but for the many thousands of Filipinos who are helpless victims of the oppression and injustices of the so-called New Society. The meaning and thrust of my struggle and sacrifice transcend the limited question of absence or presence in the proceedings before the military tribunal.

I have therefore solemnly vowed to continue my hunger strike as a symbol of our people’s firm protest against:

1. the trial of civilians before military tribunals, particularly for offenses allegedly committed by them before martial law;

2. the lack of judicial independence. Trials by civil courts would still be a travesty of justice, especially in cases where those in power, their relatives or associates, are interested-for as long as our judges remain “casuals.” They should be given permanent tenure, for their own good and for the benefit of our people who have a vital stake in a sound administration of justice;

3. the absence of a genuine free press. Since martial law was proclaimed, I have been unfairly condemned and vilified by the controlled newspapers and tv-radio stations. I know there are many people who have been similarly pilloried. But a genuine free press is even more important for those who are in power. It may free them form their arrogance, their prejudices, and their pretensions, and help them see the injustices they have committed against their own people; and

4. the further continuation of martial law and its evils and repressions. After all, Mr. Marcos has already announced to the world that he had actually removed martial law since April 1974.

I know I have caused my loved ones immeasurable anguish and sorrow. But as I told the Military Commission last March 31, there comes a time in a man’s life when he must prefer a meaningful death to a meaningless life. Let Mr. Marcos realize that there are still Filipinos who are prepared to suffer and lay down their lives for a cause bigger than their own physical survival.

Others may know better ways of fighting the evils and injustices of one-man rule. But for me, a prisoner in an army camp, my only shelter is a clear conscience, my only shield my unshakeable faith that this is still a moral universe and that right and goodness will triumph in the end. Beyond the greed, the pride, the insolence, and the pretensions of those who rule us through force and fear and fraud, there is a living Almighty God who knows the dark mysteries of evil in the hearts of men. I know His justice, truth, and righteousness will reign and endure forever.

Those who have the force of arms will win in the meanwhile. But they will surely lose in the end. For to paraphrase Unamuno, the great thinker, for them to finally prevail, they must convince; to convince, they have to persuade; and in order to persuade, they need what they do not and cannot have: right and reason in the crucial struggle.

You will never know how much and how often you have been with me in the desolation of my prison cell. But be consoled in the thought that this is the least I can do for our helpless people. My only regret is that I cannot give more.

With all my love,
NINOY

‘I HAVE DECIDED TO CHALLENGE DEATH’

6:20 p.m.

Senator Francisco ‘Soc’ Rodrigo

My dearest Soc:

Why did God create a single man at the dawn of creation and not an instant crowd, a multitude to speed up the population of the universe? I’ve always been intrigued by this question till I came across the works of a Talmudic scholar several months ago. He said:

Therefore was a single man only first created, to teach thee that whosoever destroys a single soul from the children of man, Scripture charges him as though he had destroyed the whole world.”

How many children of men have been destroyed in this land of ours since our tyrant took over? How many have vanished in the night in the flower of their youth? How many are still dying in the south in a useless carnage that could have been easily averted? How will he be charged by the Scripture-he, who destroyed not only one but a crowd, a multitude!

Our nation has been transformed into a garrison state, an entire nation made captive and betrayed by its own leader. The tyranny continues to rampage unchecked. The nation awaits its end. But nothing happens! Why?

I believe the cause delaying our liberation may be found in ourselves; in our reluctance to assert our rights and frontally confront the forces of evil. We are afraid to die and our fear has immobilized us. We have forged our own chains with our cowardice!

The Greeks said we should not fear death, but rather the fear of death. Death has no terror, only death of shame!

I have decided to challenge death. I do not believe I’m sinning against my creator because in the end, I am not really my own executioner. By my example, I hope I can inspire two others. Like the dominoes, one has to fall to create the chain reaction.

It has been observed, people take their cues from attitudes not arguments; they object to manners, never consider ideas. This is the psychology of the mass. I’m beginning to see the validity of this observation. We have been arguing ourselves hoarse against the present tyranny with apparently little effect. We have been expounding our ideas of freedom and liberty evoking little response. The time has come to shift gears, to change strategy.

If we want our people to follow, I propose, we must cease arguing and start acting, doing what a freeman must do to assert his rights and to defend his freedoms. Action, not words. Selfless example, not ideas. The time for talking is past!

For my part, I’ve decided to act and set the example. If I fail, at least, it is not for lack of trying. I think it was you who said during our bull sessions in Bldg. No. 3 two years ago:

Tis better to try and to fail, rather than to fail to try and forever experience the inestimable loss of what might have been.”

Yes, Soc, I do not want to face my children and their generation in humiliation and shame for having failed to try and thereby allowing a tyranny to entrench itself.

I want to thank you for your spiritual guidance. The faith you rekindled in me sustained me through the dark nights. I remember you telling me: Everywhere, a greater joy is preceded by a greater suffering. I remember you telling me that God does not sleep, and that if we must be true to Him, we should follow the example of His Redeemer Son.

When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure: when slandered, we try to conciliate-for Christianity is a religion for slaves, or if you will, for the freedman of the Lord.”

Yes, thanks to you, I am a better man-a better soldier for truth and freedom.

You helped me find my Savior Christ through the fog of doubt and the thick clouds of human arrogance. Now that I have found him, I have achieved my inner peace. I cannot wait to finally discover-if the Lord had been so good to those who seek-what shall His goodness be to those who discovered Him?

My single prayer to Him had been: Let me not live to be useless. I think He has answered my prayers!

I am afraid I won’t be able to thank you personally and kiss and embrace your faithful wife whose demeanor in the face of difficulties had been our collective source of inspiration. Please kiss her for me and ask her to remember me in her prayers as she will always be in mine. Tell your children, especially King, their generosity and concern were the straws of hope I desperately hang on.

From the start, your faith never wavered. You were the bedrock of optimism. You were the ‘summer storm heralding the distant storm.’ Unfortunately, it is my sad fate to depart before the deluge.

Good-bye!
NINOY

‘THE EASY LAUGHTER OF THE UNAFRAID’

7: 30 p.m.

My dear Senator Tañada:

CONSUMMATUM EST!

As I told you this morning, I’ll take the final plunge the moment I am pushed to the limit. They’ve done it. The Commission members reversed themselves. And in spite of my fervent pleas to be given a few days to submit a written memorandum and be able to go to the Supreme Court, I was summarily refused.

I’m writing you this note while I still have strength. I would like to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, most especially for your solicitous concern and your fatherly affection.

I have always believed that we human can make things better, but we can never make them perfect. “Better, yes; perfect, never.” You have definitely made my life better. I cannot ask for more.

Life at best is second best-a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible and through effort and difficulty, ideals sometimes struggle to realization. We have struggled hard for our ideals through endless difficulties and I have no doubt, soon, these ideals will become realities.

It is true, the road has been most difficult and from the outset I vowed to you that I will try to endure all sufferings within the limits of my human frailty. You inspired me no end, making my task easier.

You are unflappable, unshakeable in your faith in freedom and democracy; unswerving in your devotion to truth and you possess the courage of the pure of heart and the “laughter of the unafraid.” You have been my guiding star.

Your understanding and concern continuously rekindled my dying embers of hope. Time and again, you infected me with your optimism, infused me with renewed courage and restored to my humorless existence the easy laughter of the unafraid.

Solzhenitsyn said: “We crave for freedom x x x but we wait for this freedom to fall to our lot like some sudden unexpected miracle that will occur without any effort on our part.” This is true not only in Russia, but also in our land.

The dice of fate has been rolled and each of us has been assigned a role to play. Ours is to keep lighting the beaconlight of freedom for those who have lost their way. Ours is to articulate the fervent hopes of a people who have suddenly lost their voices. Ours is to adopt the solid stance of courage in the face of seemingly hopeless odds so that hope no matter how dim or distant will never banish from sight.

My elders never tired to tell me that “to whom much is given, much will be asked.” Nobody forced me into public life, in fact, I forced myself on our people. My covenant was clear-to serve them not only when the going ws good, but more especially when the going got rough. I cannot deny our people who pampered me with their affection as proven in four elections. During this time of crisis, when leadership is sorely needed, we have to pass the test of leadership.

We must teach our people to respond, not merely to react. We must tell them, to the point of being repetitious-we must criticize to be free, because we are free only when we criticize.

We must tell them to be not mere objects of history. They must be history’s creator. We must remind them of the constant need for their martyrs if we are to create ever better tomorrows.

We must not only preserve yesterday’s heritage, fight for today’s ephemeral interests, but die, if need be, for tomorrow’s hopes. Human liberation is the result of man’s participating responsibility and of responsible participation.

I no longer know the limits of our shrunken constituency. Perhps, it is now limited to those handful who will not give up the fight for freedom. But I am confident, that with the coming dawn, this constituency will become larger-as the timid evacuate from the shadows of fear and start asserting their rights in open sunlight. And when that day comes, we shall have served our purpose and there is no longer any need for us.

At the risk of being immodest, I dare say, ours have been a good team. We succeeded to fuse the enthusiasm of youth with the sobriety and maturity of the old. You are a giant among pygmies. I was a pygmy among giants. I had the vigor of the young, you the wisdom and temperament that is priceless because like excellent wine, it has been mellowed by age.

But now I must say goodbye. In one more paradox, the young fades away ahead of the Old. Why? Because what this nation needs is not muscles. It needs sobriety and brains!

Please extend my love to your wife and children, and to your sons my eternal gratitude.

Good-bye!
NINOY

‘I HAVE CHOSEN TO FOLLOW MY CONSCIENCE’

August 27, 1973
Fort Bonifacio

Military Commission No. 2

Dear Sirs:

I have faith in the Filipino. I believe that with all the resources at his disposal and given the facts and the truth, the Filipino can resolve any difficulty and achieve his vision of a good and just society.

I believe that the Filipino will respond to the call to greatness not by coercion but by persuasion, not by intimidation but through the ways of freedom.

All that I hold sacred, the inherent dignity and worth of every human being, his freedom of thought and speech and press, his liberty to choose without fear or pressure-the public officials of his own choice, and the great principles of democracy handed down to us by our forebears have all been set aside for the convenience of one man’s continued stay in power.

I understand my lawyers have stated before the Supreme Court why a Military Tribunal cannot assume jurisdiction over criminal cases against civilians in times of peace. The whole civilized world recoils at the thought of civilians being dragged before military courts and tried as ordinary criminals.

But there is something that transcends all other considerations, something that is unique in the case against me. Two years ago, on August 24, 1971-three days after the horrible massacre in Plaza Miranda-I was accused and pronounced guilty of the same charges by the President himself, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He could have ordered the charges against me filed with the civil courts since 1971 but he did not. He waited for his own brand of martial law and ordered the creation of military tribunals. With due respect to all of you, how can this Military Commission reverse the President? Even if you want to because of your sense of justice, nonetheless under Presidential Decree No. 39, the President has the power in any case to change of reverse your decision.

Sirs, I know you to be honorable men. But the one unalterable fact is that you are the subordinates of the President. You may decide to preserve my life, but he can choose to send me to death. Some people suggest that I beg for mercy. But this I cannot in conscience do. I would rather die on my feet with honor, than live on bended knees in shame.

My friends and relatives have been harassed. Some have been detained. The witnesses I intend to call are all afraid. I want to save all from further agony.

I have therefore decided not to participate in these proceedings: first, because this ritual is an unconscionable mockery; second, because every part of my being-my heart and mind and my soul-yes, every part of my being is against any form of dictatorship. I agree we must have public order and national discipline, if the country is to move forward. But peace and order without freedom is nothing more than slavery. Discipline without justice is merely another name for oppression. I believe we can have lasting peace and prosperity only if we build a social order based on freedom and justice. My non-participation is therefore an act of protest against the structures of injustice that brought us here. It is also an act of faith in the ultimate victory of right over wrong, of good over evil. In all humility, I say it is a rare privilege to share with the Motherland her bondage, her anguish, her every pain and suffering.

Mother Filipinas once again has been led back to her dark dungeon in chains. Her sons and daughters lie prostrate and defenseless, ruled by decrees and governed once more by the hated law of the might-namely that might makes right.

Mr. President, Honorable Members of this Commission, I fully realize the consequences of my decision. You have your own duties to perform, I have my sad fate to meet.

I have chosen to follow my conscience and accept the tyrant’s verdict.

May God have mercy on all of us!

Sincerely,
BENIGNO S. AQUINO, JR.