Marck Harold G.

Ensano 11-STEM-1

Activity 5: Comprehension Check

1. What is the geographic origin of Pres. Aquino’s speech?
▪ The geographic origin of the late President Cory Aquino's speech is Washington,
because that is where she delivered it.
2. What is the language used in her speech? What do you think is its linguistic origin?
▪ The language utilized in President Aquino's speech is English, which has its linguistic
origins in Britain.
3. Explain the relevance of this speech to the political setting during that period. Read up on this,
or you may interview your parents or your grandparents about this particular period of our
nation’s history by asking them about what they remember. Also, ask them about the situation
when Ninoy was gunned down. How did the different ethnic groups react to Ninoy’s murder?
Was the whole Philippines affected by his death? Write about 15 sentences for this activity.
▪ While under martial law, democracy in the Philippines failed. All newspapers, television
stations, and radio stations were shut down and put under military control. The
government seized and took control of vital public utilities and industries. All student
protests and rallies, as well as public political gatherings and labor strikes, were strictly
disallowed. The Philippines' legislative body, the Congress, was removed, and Marcos
became a dictator. He has complete power over the government and can rule over or
decide on anything or anybody. Nobody in the country is more powerful than he is. He is
not required to share authority with other officials. He has the authority to appoint or
remove any government or military official. Dictatorships are the total opposite of
democracies. Thus, from 1972 to 1986, while President Marcos was a dictator,
democracy in our nation disappeared. Political activism and nationalism have risen.
Unions, federations, and cooperatives were formed by urban workers, plantation
workers, and farmers. With Aquino's assassination, the Philippines became a militant
nation. Several protests and rallies were held in order to seek President Marcos'
resignation. The biggest economic crisis in the Philippines is the result of incorrect
economic policies implemented by the Marcos government's technocrats, as well as
huge robberies of the national Treasury and other riches by the Marcos family, their
relatives, and friends. The assassination of Aquino sent a negative message to the rest
of the globe, frightening away all visitors and international investment. Furthermore,
Aquino's assassination inspired Filipino nationalist emotions to struggle for freedom and
democracy, which had previously been lost during the martial law dictatorship.