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Testament from a Prison Cell
Book by Aquino, Benigno S., Jr.
190 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 1989
About the author
Benigno Simeon Aquino Jr.
4 books4 followerssometimes called Ninoy Aquino
From political exile, Benigno Simeon Aquino Jr. returned to his assassination in 1983; afterward, Corazón Cojuangco Aquino, his widow, ran for president, won, and served.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninoy_A...
From political exile, Benigno Simeon Aquino Jr. returned to his assassination in 1983; afterward, Corazón Cojuangco Aquino, his widow, ran for president, won, and served.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninoy_A...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 20, 2026
Ninoy Aquino was arrested a few hours after the declaration of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos Sr in September 11, 1972. Aquino was his main critic and political rival. He was jailed by the dictator on trumped-up charges which were untrue. In reality, Marcos wanted to silence his critics and Ninoy Aquino is a threat to his power.
While in jail, Ninoy Aquino wrote most of the contents of this book -- Testament from a Prison Cell. It contains some of his deepest fears and concerns for his family and the Filipino people, expressed in his eloquent style of writing, as if he's making a speech on a podium. Some of his letters to his daughters were shared in this book and it's as if he is apologizing to his children for not being with them. In all of those letters to the girls (they were all still under 18 then), he always mentioned to the girls to love their brother Noynoy who was 13 at that time, because he said, someday "he will be your refuge and staff". This Chapter 12 was titled "If a Grain of Wheat Dies, It Bears Much Fruit". It seems, Ninoy was saying his goodbyes to his children in 1973.
“It is the highest privilege, my last act of freedom, to choose to die at the dictator’s hands, before the eyes of our people and all humanity, rather than live on my bended knees at the feet of tyranny.” - Benigno Aquino Jr., Fort Bonifacio, 1973
He closed the book by quoting a part of Lupang Hinirang --
Aming ligaya na 'pag may mang-aapi
Ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo
That was 1973.
He was later released by Marcos Sr. to get treatment in US for a heart problem.
He later returned home in August 21, 1983. A few minutes before his plane landed at the MIA (Now NAIA), he said these words -- "If it's my fate to die by an assassin's bullet so be it, but I cannot be petrified by inaction or fear of assassination and therefore stay in a corner."
A few minutes later, an assassin's bullet pierced through his brain.
He was shot while descending the stairwell of an airplane.
He never set foot on his beloved Philippines alive.
In one chapter of this book, he wrote this:
"Rizal said that we can only win freedom by deserving it and that to earn it we must improve the mind and enhance the dignity of the individual, “love what is just, what is good, what is great, to the point of dying for it.” And when the people reach these heights, he said, “God provides the weapon, and the idols and the tyrants fall like a house of cards, and freedom shines in the first dawn.” - Benigno Aquino Jr. quoting José Rizal
He fulfilled a vision. In death, he inspired a nation to rise. The tyrant was thrown out by the people less than three years after he died.
While in jail, Ninoy Aquino wrote most of the contents of this book -- Testament from a Prison Cell. It contains some of his deepest fears and concerns for his family and the Filipino people, expressed in his eloquent style of writing, as if he's making a speech on a podium. Some of his letters to his daughters were shared in this book and it's as if he is apologizing to his children for not being with them. In all of those letters to the girls (they were all still under 18 then), he always mentioned to the girls to love their brother Noynoy who was 13 at that time, because he said, someday "he will be your refuge and staff". This Chapter 12 was titled "If a Grain of Wheat Dies, It Bears Much Fruit". It seems, Ninoy was saying his goodbyes to his children in 1973.
“It is the highest privilege, my last act of freedom, to choose to die at the dictator’s hands, before the eyes of our people and all humanity, rather than live on my bended knees at the feet of tyranny.” - Benigno Aquino Jr., Fort Bonifacio, 1973
He closed the book by quoting a part of Lupang Hinirang --
Aming ligaya na 'pag may mang-aapi
Ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo
That was 1973.
He was later released by Marcos Sr. to get treatment in US for a heart problem.
He later returned home in August 21, 1983. A few minutes before his plane landed at the MIA (Now NAIA), he said these words -- "If it's my fate to die by an assassin's bullet so be it, but I cannot be petrified by inaction or fear of assassination and therefore stay in a corner."
A few minutes later, an assassin's bullet pierced through his brain.
He was shot while descending the stairwell of an airplane.
He never set foot on his beloved Philippines alive.
In one chapter of this book, he wrote this:
"Rizal said that we can only win freedom by deserving it and that to earn it we must improve the mind and enhance the dignity of the individual, “love what is just, what is good, what is great, to the point of dying for it.” And when the people reach these heights, he said, “God provides the weapon, and the idols and the tyrants fall like a house of cards, and freedom shines in the first dawn.” - Benigno Aquino Jr. quoting José Rizal
He fulfilled a vision. In death, he inspired a nation to rise. The tyrant was thrown out by the people less than three years after he died.
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September 5, 2007The experience of a Philippine senator who was imprisoned under a fascist dictatorship.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews