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Last night I was visited by a dream. The dream took me to a quiet place, a green orchard in a golden summer. There I found Ninoy Aquino resting in an easy chair under the shade of a mango tree. He was holding a glass ball in his hand and was gazing at it thoughtfully.

When he saw me standing there, he smiled and gave me a chair to sit. And together we sat and stared at the glass ball in his hand.

The ball was magical. Whenever a ray of sunlight passed through, it revealed images of our nation’s history, events and deeds made by Filipinos throughout time up to the present.

I saw scenes that were common to me as the air and smoke I breathe when I commute. The drug addicts that are wilting in limbo, the criminal syndicates that terrorize the way of life, the unwed teenage mothers, the politicians looking clean yet playing dirty, men wasting their lives on talk and booze, unscrupulous businessmen who hoard their success, youth who lives their lives irresponsibly and in waste, trying to make what’s on TV real.

I sighed. “It is a shame.”

Ninoy turned to me and asked, “What is?”

“The fact that you died for freedom and change for your countrymen. After twenty years, this is what we got to show for it.”

I pointed to the scenes of misery and immorality that are rampant in the country today and cried, “Is this what you died for?!”

Ninoy looked at me then said, “Yes.” When the great man saw the surprise in my eyes, he smiled gently. “Let me show you…” He placed the glass ball closer to me and there I saw what he saw, what I just didn’t see at first.

I saw the dedicated professionals helping the drug addicts mend the pieces of their lives, the victims of police abuse who cry out for justice, the honest policemen who dispense this justice at the risk of their lives for the ideals of peace and order, the parents who forgive and stand by their children even when they made mistakes, the people who choose their leaders with the trust that these leaders will deliver their commitments, men who strive hard just to offer their children a better chance for the future, the youths who take charge of their lives and try to make their dreams real.

I looked at these scenes that are so full of hope, then I looked at my companion with a new sense of understanding. Ninoy said, “This is what I died for. This…is what you must live for.”

Then he laid the glass ball in my hands and it shone brighter than the sun.

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Once Upon A Time, I wrote this Essay in memory of Senator Benigno Aquino’s 20th Death Anniversary and it had the honor to be selected for printing in three major Philippine newspapers simultaneously in August 21, 2003.

Now today, Ninoy Aquino Day 2009, I place this for everyone to remember that the freedom and hope we enjoy today, as filmmakers as well as a people,  was brought on by the sacrifice of one man who believed his life can make a difference.

He did, and so should we all believe and do the same with our lives, too.