Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino relishes Edsa role as ‘Tita Cory opening act’

Was it a case of a child not knowing the consequences of his actions or one knowing that he couldn’t be arrested because he was just between six and eight years old?

Administration senatorial candidate Benigno Aquino IV on Monday said neither was the case when he shouted slogans onstage against the Marcos dictatorship as the opening act for Corazon Aquino and other opposition figures in between 1983 and the People Power Revolution in 1986.

“Even when I was a child, I knew then that that was my small contribution to the struggle during those times,” said the President’s cousin who, at 35, is the youngest senatorial candidate in the coming elections.

“Even if I was just the opening act for Tita Cory or of my grandmother or intermission in between politicians’ speeches, I felt that I was being one with the countrymen,” Aquino said in a text message.

The candidate Aquino was just six years old when his uncle, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr., was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983.

Massive protests against the Marcos dictatorship followed until the strongman called for snap elections that were held on Feb. 7, 1986.