The Aquino family has issued a statement following Vice President Sara Duterte’s remark suggesting that former President Rodrigo Duterte might face the same fate as the assassinated Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. if he returns to the Philippines.
In a brief statement released by the Ninoy & Cory Aquino Foundation on March 24, the Aquino family emphasized that history shows a stark contrast between what happened to Ninoy and what former President Duterte is going through.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement on her X account, former Senator Leila de Lima described Duterte’s claims as a desperate attempt to escape accountability.
Justice, she said, is not driven by melodrama but by truth, and history knows the difference.
De Lima also stressed that Ninoy Aquino returned to the country despite knowing that his life was at risk, adding that his bravery was for the nation, democracy, and the Filipino people.
It can be recalled that in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands, the Vice President said she warned her father that he might suffer the same fate as Ninoy Aquino if he insists on returning to the country.
Historically, former Senator Aquino was assassinated on the tarmac of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), formerly known as Manila International Airport, on August 21, 1983, after years of exile in the United States.
Aquino’s assassination occurred during the rule of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the father of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Marcos Sr. has long been suspected of orchestrating the killing, though no definitive proof has emerged.