Aquino unveils historical marker at ancestral home in Tarlac

President Benigno Aquino III leads the unveiling of the National Historical Institute marker in the Aquino Ancestral Home in Brgy. San Jose , Concepcion, Tarlac, Saturday. Three generations of Aquinos stayed in this house, Gen. Servillano Aquino , Sen. Benigno Aquino Sr. and Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. respectively. Malacañang Photo Bureau

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino led the unveiling Saturday of a marker at the Aquino family’s ancestral home in Concepcion, Tarlac.

The National Historical Commission declared the Aquino house as a historical site in 1987 because of its significance as the home of patriots from the Aquino family.

Three generations of Aquinos lived in the house since it was built in 1939, according to Malacañang.

General Servillano Aquino, Aquino’s great grandfather, was a Katipunero who joined the revolution against the Spaniards. He also fought the Americans during the Filipino-American war.

Mr. Aquino’s grandfather, Benigno Aquino Sr., also lived in the house and was a speaker of the National Assembly, a representative of Tarlac, a senator and a secretary of agriculture and commerce.

The most prominent Aquino and the father of the President, the martyred former senator Benigno Aquino Jr., lived in the house when he was the mayor of Concepcion town.

He later became governor of Tarlac and eventually senator. It was in the Senate  that Ninoy Aquino began exposing the alleged excesses of the Marcos administration.

Ninoy Aquino went against Marcos’ martial law regime and was assassinated in 1983.

With the help of wood carvers from Pampanga, the surviving Aquino family members decided to renovate the house this year for the public to  appreciate its historical value.

The President was also in Concepcion Saturday to join other Aquino family members in celebrating the 80th birthday of his aunt, Maria Aurora Aquino Lichauco. She is the eldest of all the seven Aquino siblings.