PNoy to commemorate Ninoy's death in private

President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and his sisters will commemorate in private the 27th death anniversary of their father, martyred hero Benigno "Ninoy" Jr., Malacañang said Friday. "President Aquino has asked that time be spent with his family so there's going to be sort of private time tomorrow," said Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang in a press conference. President Aquino earlier said on Wednesday he will visit his father's grave at the Manila Memorial Park, where his mother, the late president Corazon “Cory" Aquino, is also buried. Carandang said the president will also hold a mass with his family on Saturday afternoon. Ninoy was gunned down at the Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983 upon returning from a three-year exile in the United States. While 16 military men were convicted for his murder, most of them were later pardoned while the mastermind of Ninoy's assassination has not yet been brought to the bar of justice. President Aquino, the martyred opposition leader’s only son, has said he still finds it difficult to look at the Aviation Security Command (Avsecom) van, into which Ninoy's body was hauled like a slaughtered animal, without feeling anger. Aquino said that, based on testimonies before the Sandiganbayan, his father’s head was “hit by the rifle of one of the people inside the Avsecom van to ensure that he died." Carandang said that while the memory of Ninoy's murder may still pain President Aquino, the chief executive is determined to focus his attention on the country's pressing problems. "It's been more than two decades. The hurt I suppose is still there, but like most things that are very painful to you emotionally, they have moved on. There's still a process nearing finalization, I think they're just content to allow that process to go through," said Carandang. "I think the president feels he has many pressing problems to attend to," he added. Some of the president's relatives, including Ninoy’s siblings Agapito “Butz" Aquino and Tessie Aquino-Oreta, are set to attend related commemoration activities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Saturday.—Jam L. Sisante/JV, GMANews.TV