Category: ninoy

Eugenia Duran Apostol (1925-2026)

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Only in 2012, with the release of Juan Ponce Enrile’s Memoir, did we realize that  it wasn’t just good luck or privilege but extraordinary strength and courage that saw Eugenia aka Eggie through those dark times, standing up not just to Marcos but to his defense minister as well.

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In the pantheon of EDSA warriors 1983 to 1986, Eggie Apostol stands next only to Ninoy, Cory, and Butz for her fearless fight “to quench the public thirst for information on the murderous weight of martial law” and her passionate opposition to press censorship that saw Ninoy’s shocking assassination on Aug 21, and 10 days later the awesome funeral procession, barely covered or reported by Marcos media. Two days later, she dared turn the weekly lifestyle mag Mr. & Ms. into black-and-white Special Editions to fearlessly chronicle those troubled times and document the anger of the people.

The first issue with Ninoy’s bloody face on the cover sold 750,000 copies which settled down to 300,000 to 400,000 weekly over the next 70 weeks or so to the end of November 1984.  Eggie ran stories of the Ninoy-Galman double murder, and events and revelations unfolding thereafter, from the street protests, the human rights violations, the hidden wealth, and the Agrava Fact-Finding Board hearings, especially the Majority Report, released in November 1984, that the double murder was the outcome of a military conspiracy involving Ver and 25 others, and NOT the doing of Galman, the alleged communist hit man.

By Feb 1985, when the Sandiganbayan Trial of Ver et al. began, Eggie had quickly shifted to newspaper mode with the Philippine Weekly Inquirer, tabloid size, to chronicle what turned out to be a mock trial. TV cameras labelled “Office of the President of the Philippines” beamed court proceedings to the Palace from where Marcos stage-managed and directed outcomes and decisions, most crucially the exclusion of all evidence surfaced by the Agrava Board. G.R. No. 72670

The rest is history, so to speak. In Dec 2 1985 the Sandiganbayan acquitted Ver et al., the next day Cory announced she would run in snap elections, and a week later, Dec 9, Eggie went broadsheet with the Philippine Daily Inquirer‘s first issue — the banner story: “It’s Cory-Doy”. In less than three months, Marcos was gone, martial law was over. The “mosquito press” that Marcos dismissed as minor irritant had turned out to be lethal.

But Eggie wasn’t done. In 1996, ten years after EDSA, she founded the Foundation for Worldwide People Power (FWPP) and published my Chronology of a Revolution 1986, coffee table, and in 2000, the updated essay version in Tagalog, Himagsikan sa EDSA–Walang Himala, cheap newsprint, that was serialized in her pop-up tabloid Pinoy Times (1999) in the run-up to Edsa Dos and the ouster of Erap.

In August 2006 she was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature & Creative Communication Arts in recognition of “her courageous example in placing the truth-telling press at the center of the struggle for democratic rights and better government in the Philippines.” In November of the same year, she was hailed byTime Magazine as one of its “Asian Heroes” of the past 60 years.

Eugenia “Eggie” Duran Apostol never tires of saying that she was just lucky “to be at the right place at the right time,” with “the knack for starting small things that end up doing big things.” [Butch Hernandez, FWPP]

Only in 2012, with the release of Juan Ponce Enrile‘s Memoir, did we realize that  it wasn’t just good luck or privilege but extraordinary strength and courage that saw Eggie through those challenging times, battling not just Marcos but his defense minister, too.

Enrile’s JAKA Investments Corp. was part owner pala of Mr. & Ms. — pre-1983 the Enriles and Apostols danced and dined around in the same alta sociedad circles; Eggie’s husband Peping Apostol, project engineer, was a favored builder of the Ponce-Enriles — and when the Special Editions came out, Enrile kept his investment in Mr. & Ms. secret (he was in enough trouble with Marcos?).

Juan Ponce Enrile had surprisingly kept his hands off. To avoid scrutiny, his shares had been “warehoused” under Eggie’s name — a “gentleman’s agreement.” https://insiderph.com/

But the 1985 shift to the Inquirer broadsheet came back to bite Eggie. In ’89 JAKA filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accusing her of allegedly diverting Mr. & Ms. corporate funds to set up the Daily Inquirer and complaining of irregularities that she allegedly committed from ’83 to ’87.

In the 1990s the Philippine Daily Inquirer underwent a struggle for power – between Apostol and her managers. Apostol severed all corporate and editorial ties with the Philippine Daily Inquirer on January 26, 1994, resigning from the board and retiring from the paper. She is said to have seen the battle for corporate control to be detrimental to the paper’s growth. [Mojares, Resil. “Biography: Eugenia D. Apostol”]

The Court of Appeals dismissed the complaint In August 1995, which dismissal was affirmed by the Supreme Court in July 1998. [G.R. No. 72670] But Enrile wasn’t done with Eggie. In the 2012 Memoir, he painted her as an opportunistic social climber (imagine!) who curried his favor during martial law to protect and advance her own business interests. Projecting much? It was he who was super fortunate to have Eggie and the mosquito press on his side when he defected from Marcos with FVR and RAM in Feb 86.

The Memoir was “a serious attempt to revise the history of the dictatorship and the libertarian people power movement that followed it,” said Inquirer columnist Amando Doronila. And of course Enrile took exception to my Chronology that editor Nelson Navarro tagged a product of “the official yellow school of history” which cast Enrile in a most “unfavorable light.” https://opinion.inquirer.net/37782/enriles-memoir-story-of-sorcerers-apprentice

ENRILE: Because I was imvolved in politics, the systematic vilification against me was easy to understand and to even forgive. But the disservice done to me was nothing compared to the equally systemic attempt to minimize, if not totally eradicate from the annals of history, the role of the courageous and patriotic soldiers of the land who dared and who were willing and ready to sacrifice their families, their blood and their lives to free the people from a regime that had long lost its moral right to govern. It is something unpardonable and something that I have detested all these years. It showed me the callousness, perfidy and ingratitude of those who benefitted most from the 1986 Edsa Revolution. [page 654]

One realizes now that Enrile’s take down of my EDSA history must have also been about his long-drawn-out battles with Eggie. That he got it all wrong is just consistent as well with that history.

There was no attempt to minimize the role of the rebel military. I tell it as it happened, based on published sources and first-hand accounts: The reformists broke away and the people marched to EDSA to shield them from the dictator. And we continue to celebrate that Day of the Defection as the beginning of the four days of EDSA.

what i do say is that if enrile and ramos had not defected, people power would have happened anyway.  feb 22 was the 7th day of the crony boycott, the economy was reeling, the people were in the throes of nonviolent revolution, marcos’s inauguration would have brought them to the streets anyway, straight to mendiola, most likely, there to face tanks and marines just as bravely and stunningly. https://stuartsantiago.com/resetting-the-record-straight-edsa/

It also bears repeating, clarifying, that Eggie did not commission me to write Chronology or Himagsikan. Both were purely private efforts at telling, and thinking on, how the four days unfolded, what was that all about. By the time Eggie heard of my work and asked to see it, I had already snagged interviews with FVR and Ming, Almonte and Razon, atbp. (for a 1991 FVR project na hindi natuloy). The Cory interview was arranged by Eggie; she sent word to Enrile, too, but he wanted editing privileges.

Eggie was every writer’s dream publisher who did not in any way attempt to influence or edit my reading of, and writing on, the four days’ events, except to send me her folder of news clippings and some foreign titles to flesh out my timeline. And oh yes, she got me that wonderful foreword from Nick Joaquin, cover by Brenda Fajardo, book design by Lynett Villariba. And for Himagsikan, Nonoy Marcelo, no less.

Eggie was 86 when Enrile’s Memoir came out, and the story is, she must have found it very interesting.,,,

…. because she stayed up all night reading it. By the time she was finished with all 750 pages, it was already 5 a.m. As she turned the last page, she closed her eyes…and laughed. https://opinion.inquirer.net/39544/and-then-she-laughed

Katawá-tawá naman talaga na the obfuscating hadn’t stopped, and that he was still so very angry with Eggie for standing up to the machos of martial law. What a life well-lived!

Taos-pusong pasasalamat, Eggie, and happy new trails!

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Original manuscripts online
Chronology of a Revolution https://www.edsarevolution.com/chronology/
Foreword by Nick Joaquin https://www.edsarevolution.com/chronology/foreword.php
Himagsikan sa EDSA–Walang Himala! https://www.stuartxchange.org/Edsa.html 
Panimula https://www.stuartxchange.org/Panimula.html

How Ninoy made LABAN

He says that “no family holds a monopoly” on Ninoy Aquino‘s name because no one holds a monopoly on heroism”, even, that he has every right to identify with Ninoy’s “struggle for truth” and to use the Laban sign to win people over to his kulto. May I just say, the senator has yet to earn the right to claim Ninoy as his inspiration, given, as Manila Times columnist Chin Wong reminds, his long history of “shameless political maneuvering and defense of the fascist administration of Rodrigo Duterte, whose policies resulted in the death of thousands in his bloody war on drugs, and who used government agencies to shut down media critics.” Ninoy set the bar very high, too high even for an ambassador of Jesus Christ. But all is not lost, the senator can still make habol.

L is for loser
By Chin Wong

… But all is not lost. With some well-placed and well-timed actions, Cayetano could still come across as a courageous defender of the truth. Here are a few practical suggestions:

1. Go to prison for seven years. When President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972, Ninoy Aquino was the first person arrested. He was brought to Fort Bonifacio and later held in solitary confinement in Laur, Nueva Ecija. Some time for self-reflection may do Cayetano some good.

2. Go on hunger strike. To protest the injustice of being tried by a military tribunal rather than a civilian court, Aquino went on a punishing 40-day hunger strike, surviving on nothing but water and salt, dropping from 180 to 120 pounds. He ended it only when his family and church leaders begged him to stay alive. Similarly, Cayetano could be induced to stop his hunger strike — after his sister, also a senator, asks him “Kumusta ka na? (How are you doing?)” while dabbing at nonexistent tears.

3. Be sentenced to death by firing squad. The military tribunal eventually sentenced Aquino to death by firing squad on trumped-up charges of murder, subversion and illegal possession of firearms. The international outcry was so massive, Marcos had to suspend the execution. Of course, we cannot guarantee there will be a similar outcry for Cayetano.

4. Run for office from prison. From his prison cell, Aquino ran for a seat in the interim parliament under the newly formed Laban party. The night before the election, Manila residents staged a “noise barrage” — honking horns and banging pots to show their support — and give voice to the strong anti-Marcos sentiment. Maybe Cayetano can try this over Facebook Live. After all, he supported online voting for senators so that his fugitive colleague Sen. Ronald de la Rosa, wanted for crimes against humanity, could still join Senate sessions while on the run from the law.

5. Go into exile. In 1980, Aquino suffered severe chest pains in prison. Reluctant to let his chief rival die in a military camp, Marcos permitted Aquino to travel to the United States for a coronary bypass. He spent three years in Newton, Massachusetts, as a fellow at Harvard University and MIT, and traveled across the US giving lectures, rallying the Filipino diaspora and warning international leaders about the critical economic and social state of the Philippines. Cayetano would surely win some brownie points here with a three-year absence.

The last action may be a bit too drastic. In 1983, against the warnings of friends, family and even members of the Marcos administration who told him his life was in imminent danger, Aquino returned to the Philippines and was shot in the back of the head on the tarmac, right after being escorted by soldiers off China Airlines Flight 811 at the Manila International Airport.

Cayetano might want to give martyrdom a hard pass. On the bright side, he could win some more PR points by simply staying away.  https://www.manilatimes.net/

Distorting EDSA, Dismissing Agrava

Heard a pro-Duterte lawyer vlogger telling her followers na kung maraming marami silang jo-join sa  rallies, maaaring sumama na pati ang military, just like in ’86 daw when the military went to EDSA to protect daw the people in case of violent actions from the powers-that-be.

She also said that she doesn’t believe there can be a truly credible investigative commission. “Remember the Agrava Commission? May naniwala ba?” She reminded that there were two reports “dahil hindi magkásundô” [ang commissioners].

THE MILITARY IN EDSA 86

Sinong military troops ang pumuntang EDSA in ’86 to protect the people? Enrile, FVR, and Gringo’s RAM? The Marines’ Tadiar and Balbas?

FACT.  Enrile and Gringo’s Reform the Armed Forces Movement went to Camp Aguinaldo Saturday afternoon, joined by FVR a few hours later, to defect and take a stand vs Marcos (after their coup plot to replace the dictator was discovered). Wala pang tao noon sa EDSA. It was Day 7 of Cory‘s crony-boycott campaign. Close to midnight na when the people went to EDSA upon the call of Butz Aquino and Cardinal Sin to protect the rebel military who were perceived to be possible allies against the dictator.

FACT. Marine Commander General Artemio Tadiar and his tanks went to EDSA Sunday on orders to eliminate Enrile and co. but the people stopped them in Ortigas (as Enrile was crossing the highway to join forces with FVR in Camp Crame).  Monday Col. Braulio Balbas and his howitzers were able to enter Camp Aguinaldo through Libis, with orders to bomb Crame across the highway, but Crame was full of people protecting Enrile and Ramos, and Balbas simply disobeyed orders.

So. It’s not true that the military withdrew their support from Marcos and went to EDSA to protect the people. It was the people, waving Ninoy’s and Cory’s colors and banners, who marched to EDSA to protect the rebel military, not the other way around. Let’s get that straight. https://edsarevolution.com/chronology/

AGRAVA COMMISSION

Hindi rin totoo na walang naniwala sa findings ng Agrava Fact-Finding Board on the Ninoy assasination. Kapani-paniwala ang patunay ng Board na nagsinungaling sina Marcos at Olivas when they insisted na sa tarmac binaril si Ninoy at si Galman ang bumaril sa kanya.

Based on eyewitness accounts and audio recordings, the Board established beyond doubt that Ninoy, the victim of a military conspiracy, was shot on the service stairs by the soldier right behind him. All five members of the Board agreed on this principal finding.

The Majority and Minority reports differed only on how high the military conspiracy went. Chair Corazon Agrava named only the six (6) soldiers who were on the stairs with Ninoy, plus their immediate superior Avsecom chief Gen. Luther Custodio. The majority of four (Dante Santos, Ernesto Herrera, Amado Dizon, and Luciano Salazar) went all the way up to Ver and Olivas, with 22 military men, and one civilian.

That the Majority Report (Oct 1984) dared belie the dictator’s communist-hitman-tale and lay the blame squarely at the feet of Ver, Marcos’s highest military official, was a high point in the struggle to obtain justice for Ninoy.

Unfortunately, if expectedly, following the dictator’s orders na “Mag moro-moro na lang kayo”, the 1985 Sandiganbayan trial (Pamaran Court) declared inadmissible in court the copious evidence unearthed by the Agrava Board, and acquitted all 26, ruling that Ninoy was shot by Galman who was in turn shot by the military. The very next day Cory announced that she would run for President if Marcos were to hold snap elections. We all know how that turned out.

A year after Cory assumed office, there was a Sandiganbayan retrial of the Aquino-Galman double murder case (Hermosisima Court 1987-’90), this while Marcos loyalists mounted coup attempt after coup attempt to topple Cory and bring back Marcos. Criminal Case No. 10010 and 10011 was finally decided a year after Marcos died. It was a compromise decision, upholding Agrava’s finding of a military conspiracy but convicting only 16 soldiers, Custodio the highest ranking. Perhaps a concession to the restive military that settled down only in FVR times.

That Ver and Olivas (and other culpable ones) got off scot free, and that there was no evidence directly linking Marcos to the killing — these do not reflect on the Agrava Board, rather, on the genius of the mastermind who planned and enabled the project : How to kill Ninoy and get away with it. That’s my theory anyway, after some research on what Marcos and the military were up to in the three years preceding Ninoy’s homecoming.

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More in my Ninoy book, coming soon. This year, if I stop blogging. But these are such exceptional times. Even, desperate times for pro-Duterte vloggers, kaya nagkakalat ng fake history.

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Ninoy wasn’t perfect but he was one bright star!

First posted November 2019

And he was for real, nothing like the three “brightest stars” kuno … “shining” in the sky … that Duterte claims himself, Go, and Cayetano to be.  Hello.  Not one of them, not all of them together — kahit isali pa natin si Inday Sara at ang buong Konggreso — can hold a candle to Ninoy.

Were he still alive, Ninoy would be 87, retired na siguro but still nakiki-alam malamang, still holding forth with his ten-centavos worth on every issue under Sun and Moon, leveling up popular discourse at the very least.  What I’d give for some informed intelligent talk about Nation, with wisdom that comes from age and experience, with credibility that comes from integrity and love of country.

One thing his political opponents couldn’t fault Ninoy for, ever, was corruption.  And so they hit him hard with the communist card, tagged him a godless enemy of the state, without evidence other than that he was friendly with certain anti-America anti-bases Huks and communists, but then so was Marcos, friendly with certain other anti-America anti-bases communists but secretly, of course, in the run-up to martial law.

Which is not to say that Ninoy couldn’t have played his cards better.  I can understand, for instance, that he thought it a great idea to facilitate, hasten, a meeting (which would have happened anyway without his help, it is said) between the communist ideologue Joma Sison and the rogue Huk Bernabe Buscayno, but did it have to happen in / around Hacienda Luisita?  Of course nakarating ang intel kay Marcos, and of course Marcos exploited it to the hilt.  Ninoy laid himself wide open for that.

I like to think that Ninoy didn’t have to die just so we could topple Marcos.  I like to think that we would have toppled Marcos with Ninoy himself leading the way.  But i guess that would have been a different kind of battle.  Enrile, for one, might not have given way to Ninoy the way he did to Cory.  And then, again, who knows.

Ang nakahihinayang sa lahat, Ninoy never, it would seem, considered the possibility, in case he was killed, that Cory might take up the struggle in his place.  Because if he did he might have prepared Cory better, and Noynoy too?  Or did he try sharing the Christian Democratic Socialist ideology with his family but their eyes glazed over?

Maybe they would all have tried harder had they known how much Ninoy was loved and admired for standing up to Marcos, even in exile, and had Ninoy known how eagerly we awaited his return.  But then how was he to know, when Marcos controlled all media, and he continued to denounce Ninoy as communist, and we had learned to keep our mouths shut, or else.  Almost like now.

We had no idea then how many we were (legion! pala) who believed in Ninoy and trusted him to lead the way forward, that is, until he was taken from us, murdered on the tarmac, our one great hope.  No wonder the love and the hope spilled over and embraced Cory and the children in grief.  The rest is history, ika nga.

Nowadays, we have no idea, either, how many we are who desperately desire a better life for the marginalized and impoverished masses and a just and equitable social and political order for all.  But little do we really know what it would take to achieve these goals.

What we need is a Ninoy, nay, we need many Ninoys, who have the welfare of the masses at heart, and who have the expertise to pick up where Ninoy left off, craft a credible and sustainable development program (beyond BuildBuildBuild and PPP) toward systemic change that would be worth uniting behind. 

In an interview with Nick Joaquin, Ninoy said that in 1967, when he ended his gig as manager of Hacienda Luisita to run for the Senate, it took eight men to take over his job. [The Aquinos of Tarlac page 278]

Eight is a good number, for starters.  But, yeah, Ninoy is a hard act to follow.

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