Marcos moves ‘Ninoy Aquino Day’ to Aug. 23 to create long weekend

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has moved the special nonworking day marking Ninoy Aquino Day from Aug. 21 to Aug. 23, a Friday, to allow for a four-day weekend intended to boost local tourism.

Signed on Thursday, Proclamation No. 665 sets the commemoration of the death of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. two days after the date he was assassinated at what was then the Manila International Airport (MIA) in 1983.

President Marcos said the occasion was moved “in order to provide for a longer weekend, thereby promoting domestic tourism.”

But he also stressed that the “historical significance of Ninoy Aquino Day is maintained” even with the change.

Monday’s a break, too

The extended weekend becomes four days because Aug. 26, a Monday, is also a regular nonworking holiday—National Heroes Day.

The murder of Aquino, an arch-critic of the President’s father, then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., on Aug. 21, 1983, was widely considered the beginning of the end for the dictatorship.

READ: Marcos moves Ninoy Aquino Day to August 23 for longer weekend

Returning from US exile, Aquino, considered the top opposition figure who could challenge Marcos Sr., was shot dead shortly after being escorted out of his plane by government security agents.

Public outcry and sustained protests triggered by his death climaxed three years later in the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, the four-day upheaval that forced the Marcos family out of the country and installed Ninoy’s widow, Cory, in power.