By CONG B. CORRALES
Associate Editor
HE was the first to call on the people in Metro Manila to gather near Isetann for the very first “People Power” that overthrew strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986.
Former senator Agapito “Butz” Aquino passed away yesterday afternoon of natural causes at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, his nephew Sen. Bam Aquino confirmed.
The former senator, one of the icons of the 1986 People Power, was 76. An uncle of the President, Butz Aquino made headlines across the country when he defied his sister-in-law the then President Corazon Aquino’s proposed pact of renewing the US Military Bases Treaty.
Along with 11 other senators in the so-called “Magnificent 12,” Aquino voted against the extension of US military presence in the country because it undermined Philippine sovereignty.
As senator, he had authored several landmark legislations such as the Magna Carta for Small Farmers, Seed Act, and the Cooperative Code.
In an e-mailed statement, Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Orlando Ravanera said Aquino’s death “is a big loss to the cooperative movement in the country.”
“He truly is a pillar of the coop movement. He will be remembered, honored, and missed. He will continue to be an inspiration. Until his last days, he showed concern for the cooperative movement,” said Ravanera.
Aquino was chairman emeritus of the Philippine Cooperative Center. Unlike most politicians, Aquino was known to organize rallies and marches to advocate the causes of the poor and marginalized. He helped form the August Twenty-One Movement (Atom) and the Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (Bandila).
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