Together with the Filipino American community, the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco held a commemorative mass in honor of the late Sen. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr on August 20, Saturday, at the Social Hall of the Philippine Center. The mass was officiated by Msgr. Jeffrey Malanog and Fr. Arnold Zamora.
Dubbed as “Friends Meeting Friends: Remembering Ninoy,” the mass was followed by a reception for friends and family to get-together and reminisce the life and heroism of Ninoy Aquino.
During the mass, Mr. Ken Kashiwahara, husband of the hero’s sister, Lupita, read Ninoy’s undelivered arrival statement in 1983. It was Mr. Kashiwahara who accompanied Ninoy on his eventful flight back to Manila on August 21 twenty-eight years ago.
Consul General Marciano A. Paynor, Jr. compared Ninoy to the national hero Dr. Jose Rizal and encouraged Kababayans to continue to be informed and engaged in the events in their immediate and larger surroundings. The Consul General asked everyone’s assistance to support the SAVE Act (www.saveourindustriesact.org) and to spread the word on the importance of exercising the right to vote. The Overseas Absentee Voters registration starts in the second week of October 2011.