September

Do you remember The 21st night of September? From 'September,' Earth, Wind and Fire

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Though totally unrelated to the events of September 1972, the Earth Wind and Fire hit uncannily and coincidentally singles out the 21st day of September.

September 1972

Ninoy Aquino, then an opposition senator, was arrested on Sept. 23, 1972, two days after President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Proclamation 1081 placing the Philippines under martial law, and on the day Information Minister Francisco Tatad announced it on television.

"Before Sept. 23, 1972, it seemed that there was nothing that (Ninoy) could not handle. He had planned his life and everything was going on schedule. At that time, the important event he was most looking forward to was the forthcoming presidential elections of 1973," the late former President Cory Aquino would later recall in her oral memoirs, which were subsequently transcribed and compiled in the book To Love Another Day.

"Then, on Sept. 23, with the day just beginning, I received a call from Ninoy. He informed me that he was on his way to Camp Crame. I was perplexed because he could not tell me why, but he assured me that I would know eventually.

"Later, I received a call from Judy Roxas, wife of Sen. Gerry Roxas. She asked me if I knew what had happened to Ninoy. When I told her no, she informed me that Sen. John Osmeña had just called from the Hilton. Martial law had been declared, he said, and Ninoy had been arrested. Judy also said that Gerry was on his way to Crame and would call us once he got to see or talk to Ninoy."

"I woke my children up (at that time Kris was only a year and a half old) to tell them what had happened; and when I told them, I couldn't help but cry."