BENIGNO
"NINOY" S. Aquino, without a doubt, is a genuine hero of
the 20th century, looming large in a society that worships at the
feet of teenage vixens, athletes and other creatures of hype.
At an age when most young men have nothing more on their minds than
getting by in school, Ninoy was already a two-time recipient of the
Philippine Legion of Honor, the highest honor accorded to civilians
by the Philippine government. His accomplishments: at 17, he was a
Manila Times foreign correspondent reporting on the Korean War; and,
in the same year he married Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco, the
22-year-old journalist who successfully negotiated the surrender of
communist leader Luis Taruc.
The "young man in a hurry' also proceeded to rack up a dazzling
list of achievements when he ventured into politics, becoming the
youngest mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac, the youngest elected vice-governor
of Tarlac, and the youngest Filipino senator. He was a Ten Outstanding
Young Men (TOYM) awardee for public service in 1960. All these Ninoy
had accomplished by the time he turned 35, giving rise to speculation
that he would have surely been "the country's president after
Ferdinand Marcos."
But Marcos was determined to stay in power. He declared Martial Law
and had his enemies locked up in Fort Bonifacio. Ninoy, being one
of those who had vociferously opposed the dictator, was jailed for
seven years and seven months. Taking the lead of fellow prisoners
Geny Lopez and Serge Osmeña Ninoy staged a hunger strike in
1975 to call attention to the detainees' plight. He lasted for 40
days, which became the "longest hunger strike in the annals of
the struggle against the dictatorship," writer Raul Rodrigo noted.
Ninoy was allowed to leave for the United States in 1980 for medical
treatment. It was said that incarceration tempered him into a "wiser
man who quoted Gandhi and sought his country's freedom through nonviolence."
His assassination at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport
upon his return on August 21, 1983 dashed a people's hope for a leader
that would guide them out of the post-Martial Law wilderness. (But
the bullet that killed Ninoy, Rodrigo observed, was also the one that
brought down his nemesis on February 25, 1986.)
GoldQuest International Ltd. (GQI), the global numismatics company
headquartered in Hong Kong, pays tribute to Ninoy Aquino through a
special gold coin issue that will be launched in time for the freedom
fighter's 20th death anniversary.
"Ninoy is the first Filipino to be featured on our gold coins,"
revealed Joseph Bismark GoldQuest director. "It is a fitting
tribute to a brilliant man who accomplished so much during his abbreviated
life. He surely would have done a lot more had he lived," Bismark
added.
The multinational firm partnered with the biggest privately-owned
mint in Europe—OH Mayer's Mint, represented by its chairman Bernhard
Mayer—and The Spirit of EDSA Foundation, headed by founding chairman
Christopher Carrion, for the production, distribution and promotion
of the Ninoy Aquino Commemorative Coin. Ninoy Aquino joins the ranks
of other famous personages immortalized in prestigious coin collections,
such as Mahatma Gandhi, John F. Kennedy, Mother Teresa, Lady Diana
and Pope John Paul 11 who are all part of GoldQuest's Champions for
Peace Series.
The Ninoy Aquino Commemorative Coin is available through GoldQuest's
eStore at www.goldquest.com, Interested parties may also contact The
Spirit of EDSA office for more details. GoldQuest, which also markets
gold and platinum jewelry, watches, medallions and other collector's
items, has an established customer base of 500,000 people worldwide.
It has offices in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, India, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.
