Learning Activity Module 1.

2
Analyzing Primary Sources

Name: ___________________________________ Course/Section:

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Learning Activity #1

Read the full transcript of the undelivered Arrival Speech of Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. and
answer the following questions:

Source: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/631394/undelivered-speech-of-senator-benigno-s-aquino-jr

Article: Undelivered speech of Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr.

(Upon his return from the United States of America on Aug. 21, 1983)
I have returned on my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and
freedoms through nonviolence.

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 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 persons detained under a 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 asks 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 nation-wide 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 blood-letting 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 solutions; it can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but with a more equitable
distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom, and

5. For the economy to get going once again, the workingman 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
much 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 to an uncertain future with only
determination and faith to offer—faith in our people and faith in God.
Talumpating hindi nabigkas ni Senador Benigno S. Aquino Jr.:
(Noong siya ay bumalik mula sa Amerika )
[Ika-21 ng Agosto 1983]

Kusa akong nagbalik upang makisama sa mga hanay ng mga nakikipaglaban para sa pagbabalik
ng ating mga karapatan at kalayaan sa mapayapang pamamaraan.

Hindi ko hangad ang sagupaan. Idinadalangin ko’t aking sisikaping magkaroon ng tunay na
pambansang pagkakasundo batay sa katarungan.

Handa ako sa ano mang masamang maaaring mangyari. Nagpasya ako labag sa payo ng aking in
a, ng aking tagpayong espirituwal, ng aking mga kaibigan, at ng ilang tagapayo sa politika.
May naghihintay sa aking hatol na kamatayan, dalawang kasong subversion na ang pawang hiling
ay ang aking kamatayan na hanggang ngayon ay nakabinbin pa rin sa mga korte.
Maaari sanang ako’y humingi ng political asylum sa Amerika ngunit nadarama kong tungkulin
ko na siya ring tungkulin ng bawat Pilipino na makiramay sa kanyang
mga kababayan lalo na sa panahon ng krisis.Kusa akong nagbalik na ang tanging sandata ay ang
aking malinis na konsensiya at nagkukuta sa pananalig na sa dakong huli’y ang katarunga’y
gigitaw nang buong tagumpay.

Nang ako ay umalis upang ipailalim sa bypass operation sa puso, ako’y umasa at nanalanging
sana’y ibalik ang mga kalayaan at karapatan ng ating mga kababayan na ang pamumuhay ay
umunlad at ang pagdanak ng dugo ay matigil. Ngunit sa halip na tayo’y sumulong tayo’y
dumausdos nang paurong. Dumami ang pagpatay, ang ekonomiya ang lalong sumama at
lumubha ang karapatang pantao. Ang malalang kalagayan ng bansa ay ating malulunasan kung
tayo’y nagkakaisa. Ngunit tayo’y magkakaisa lamang kung maibabalik ang lahat ng karapatan at
kalayaang tinatamasa natin bago ang ikadalawampu’t isa ng Setyembre, 1971. Tunay na matiisin
ang Pilipino ngunit may hangganan ang kanyang pagtitimpi.
Hihintayin pa ba nating maubos ang pagtitimping ito?

Ang laganap na paghihimagsik ay lumalala at nagbabantang sumabog sa isang madugong rebolu

syon. Dumarami ang mga kadre ng kabataang Pilipino na sa ngayo’y naniniwalang ang kalayaan
ay hindi ibinibigay kundi kailangan ito’y agawin. Kailangan pa bang tayo’y magbuhos ng dugo
tulad noong nakaraan na naging kabayaran ang ating Republika o maaari ba tayong umupo at
mag-usap bilang magkakapatid upang ayusin ang ating
hindi pagkakasunduan sa tulong ng katwiran at magandang kalooban.

Madalas kong isipin, alin kayang mga sigalot ang naisasaayos sana nang mahusay kung ang mga
nagtutunggali ay naglalahad lamang ng kanilang malinaw na mga kagustuhan. Kaya upang di
mabigyang puwang ang di pagkakaunawaan, aking ilalahad ang aking mga hangad na mangyari.

Una, iniutos ang pagbitay sa akin noong ako’y palayain kaagad. Ako’y hinatulang mamatay
sapagkat ako raw ay isang puno ng mga komunista. Hindi ako isang Komunista,
hindi ako kailanman naging komunista at kailanman ay hindi ako magigingkomunista.

Ikalawa, ang pamabansang pagkakasundo’t pagkakaisa ay makakamit ngunit Kasama na ang

katarungan para sa ating mga kapatid na Muslim at Ifugao. Walang pakikitungo sa isang diktador,
walang pakikipagsundo sa diktadurya.

Ikatlo, sa isang rebolusyon ay walang nagtatagumpay. Mayroon lamang mga biktima,

hindi natin kailangan magwasak upang makatayo tayong muli.
Ikaapat, ang paglaban sa pamahalaan o subversion ay nag-uugat sa mga dahilang pang-
ekonomiko, pangkabuhayan at pampolitika at hindi ito malulunasan ng mga hakbang militar. Ito’y
masasagkaan hindi ng higit na paghihigpit kundi ng higit na patas na pamamahagi ng kabuhayan.
Higit na demokrasya at higit na kalayaan.
Ikalima, upang mapaunlad ang ekonomiya, ang mga manggagawa ay dapat na pagkalooban ng k
anilang makatarungan at tamang bahagi ng kanilang pinagpaguran sa pasilyo sa Harvard
University ay nakaukit sa marmol ang mga salita ng makatang si Archibald Macleish,
ang sabi ni Macleish, “Paano ipagtatanggol ang kalayaan sa tulong ng sandata kapag ito’y
sinasalakay ng sandata, sa tulong ng katotohanan
kapag ito ay nilalapastangan ng kasinungalingan, ng tiwala sa demokrasya kung ito ay binabayo
ng prinsipyong mapaniil, lagi at hanggang sa huli, sa tulong ng matatag na paninindigan.”

Ako’y magbabalik mula sa pagkatapon sa ibang bansa at sa walang katiyakang bukas taglay lama
ng ang tanging tibay ng loob at pananalig sa Pilipino at pananalig sa lumikha.

I. First Impressions
A. What are your first impressions about the undelivered speech?
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B. What kind of document is it (letter, ad, newspaper, etc.)?

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I. Looking More Closely

A. Make a list of unusual or unfamiliar words or phrases you encountered while reading
the speech.
1.

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2.

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4.

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5.

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B. Is there a specific date on the speech? If so, when is it? If there is none, are there
clues that might indicate when it was written?
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C. Is there an indicated location? Where is it?

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D. Who authored the document? Why did you say so?

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E. To whom was the written document addressed? How did you know?
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F. What is the purpose of the document? What made you think so?
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II. Thinking Further

A. What do you think is the most important information that the author of the document
was conveying? Why?
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B. What is the point of view of the author? Is it objective? Why?

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C. What is the relationship between the writer and the audience? Explain
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III. Drawing Conclusion

Integrate your background knowledge of the context of the speech with the content of
the speech. What conclusions can you draw about the historical period when the
speech was written?

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