NEWTON, Massachusetts— AGAIN, the memories.
All smiles, President Benigno Aquino III returned to the home that gave him the best years he spent with his family during Martial Law.
Mr. Aquino, accompanied by his closest friends, made a quick visit to 175 Commonwealth Ave. on Chestnut Hill on Monday morning (Monday night in Manila).
He met with the present owner of the house, retired American teacher Ione Malloy, and gave her a gift.
The President also showed his friends the driveway and sidewalk where he used to shovel heavy snow during winter.
He also met with former neighbors.
This was the first time in 31 years that the President returned to Boston where he lived in exile for three years with his parents, democracy icons, Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. and President Corazon Aquino, and his four sisters.
Ninoy Aquino, the leading opposition figure against Martial Law, was allowed by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos to have a heart surgery in Dallas, Texas in 1980.
The elder Aquino left with his wife and daughters. His only son, Noynoy, followed a year later after completing college at the Ateneo de Manila University.
The senator continued to oppose the dictatorship while in the United States. President Aquino said his father wanted to return to the Philippines hoping to have a dialogue with Marcos to tell him that the country was in a dangerous situation under martial rule.
But Ninoy Aquino was assassinated at the airport upon arriving in Manila on Aug. 21, 1983. His murder was largely blamed on Marcos although it had not been proven in court. His death sparked a nationwide movement against the dictatorship that culminated in the EDSA People Power in 1986 that ousted Marcos and catapulted Cory Aquino to power.