never delivered on August 21, 1983 because he was gunned down by his military
escorts at the airport tarmac immediately after his arrival. His martyrdom started the chain of events that led to the overthrow of the Marcos government 3 years later.
I HAVE RETURNED on my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our
rights and freedoms through non-violence.
I SEEK NO confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national reconciliation
founded on justice.
I AM PREPARED for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my
spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political mentors.
A DEATH SENTENCE awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death
penalties, have been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the courts.
I COULD HAVE opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is
the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.
I NEVER SOUGHT nor have I been given any assurances, or promise of leniency by the
regime. I return voluntarily armed only with a clear conscience and fortified in the faith that in
the end, justice will emerge triumphant.
ACCORDING TO GANDHI, the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful
answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.
THREE YEARS AGO when I left for an emergency heart bypass operation, I hoped and
prayed that the rights and freedoms of our people would soon be restored, that living conditions
would improve and that blood-letting would stop.
RATHER THAN MOVE forward we have moved backward. The killings have increased,
the economy has taken a turn for the worse and the human rights situation has deteriorated.
DURING THE MARTIAL law period, the Supreme Court heard petitions for habeas
corpus. It is most ironic after martial law has allegedly been lifted, that the Supreme Court last
April ruled it can no longer entertain petitions for habeas corpus for person detained under the
Presidential Commitment Order, which covers all so-called national security cases and which
under present circumstances can cover almost anything.
THE COUNTRY IS far advanced in her times of trouble. Economic, social and political
problems bedevil the Filipino. These problems may be surmounted if we are united. But we can
be united only if all the rights and freedoms enjoyed before September 21, 1972 are fully
restored.
THE FILIPINO ASKED for nothing more, but will surely accept nothing less, than all the
rights and freedoms guaranteed by the 1935 constitution – the most sacred legacies from the
founding fathers.
YES, THE FILIPINO is patient, but there is a limit to his patience. Must we wait until that
patience snaps?
THE NATIONWIDE REBELLION is escalating and threatens to explode into a bloody
revolution. There is a growing cadre of young Filipinos who have finally come to realize that
freedom is never granted, it is taken. Must we relive the agonies and the bloodletting of the past
that brought forth our republic or can we sit down as brothers and sisters and discuss our
differences with reason and goodwill?
I HAVE OFTEN wondered how many disputes could have been settled easily had the
disputants only dared to define their terms.
SO AS TO leave no room for misunderstanding, I shall define my terms:
1. Six years ago, I was sentenced to die before a firing squad by a military tribunal whose
jurisdiction I steadfastly refused to recognize. It is now time for the regime to decide. Order my
immediate execution or set me free. I was sentenced to die for allegedly being the leading
communist leader. I am not a communist, never was and never will be.
2. National reconciliation and unity can be achieved, but only with justice, including justice
for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. There can be no deal with a dictator. No compromise with
dictatorship.
3. In a revolution there can really be no victors, only victims. We do not have to destroy in
order to build.
4. Subversion stems from economic, social, and political causes and will not be solved by
purely military solution: It can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but with a more
equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom.
5. For the economy to get going once again, the working man must be given his just and
rightful share of his labor, and to the owners and managers must be restored the hope where
there is so must uncertainty if not despair.
ON ONE OF the long corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of
Archibald Macleish: ‘How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by
truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma.
Always and in the final act, by determination and faith.’
I RETURN FROM exile and an uncertain future with only determination and faith to
offer – faith in our people and faith in God.
Awitin o KantahingBayan, Talumpati,Jose Corazon de Jesus,Benigno Aquino,Tayutay,Tula,Talambuhay,
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