SCREENGRAB FROM KRIS AQUINO’S INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
“Do you want our freedom taken away from us again?”
TV-host actress Kris Aquino posed this question as she shared her thoughts on the 30th commemoration of the People Power Revolution, which catapulted her mother, Corazon Aquino, to become the first female president of the Philippines.
The presidential sister said she decided to speak up amid calls that Filipinos should instead move on from the atrocities of martial law.
“I’ve been quiet about politics because I didn’t want to appear that as an Aquino we were making it about us… But by keeping quiet, parang (it’s as if) what happened was okay & move on na lang,” Aquino said in an Instagram post.
She recalled she was only one year old when her father, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was imprisoned and that she was 12 years old when her father was assassinated.
“I researched martial law kasi nakakahiya na ang hugot ko (because it would be embarrassing if my insights would be) based on emotions, so I read up- NINAKAW sa ‘tin ang (we were robbed of our) Freedom of Assembly, Freedom from unreasonable searches & seizures, Freedom from unlawful imprisonment, Freedom to have court proceedings, and FREEDOM OF SPEECH,” she said.
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Aquino said Filipinos now enjoy freedom of speech because we are now living in a democracy. But she asked if Filipinos would allow their freedom to be taken again.
“Seriously- papayag ba kayong kunin itong muli sa ‘tin? Madaling magsalita at maging matapang ngayon- because we live in a democracy. But my dad & mom, Ninoy & Cory Aquino were brave even when they were stripped of basic human rights. And I choose to honor their courage & all the others who gave their lives for us to have the 30 years of freedom we now take for granted,” she said.
(Seriously, would you let anyone take this away from us? It is easy to speak out and be brave these days–because we live in a democracy. But my dad and mom, Ninoy & Cory Aquino were brave even when they were stripped of basic human rights. And I choose to honor their courage and all the others who gave their lives for us to have the 30 years of freedom we now take for granted.)
Aquino added that she was “awakened” by the “shoutout” of Madonna when she mentioned about People Power Revolution during her concert in Manila on Thursday.
“Madonna’s shoutout to us celebrating People Power awakened me,” she said. CDG
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