Negrenses marking the 29th anniversary of the assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. yesterday morning paused for a prayer for Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.

Robredo epitomized what Ninoy stood for, said Edwin Balajadia, of the Negrenses 4 Noynoy Movement (N4NM),  at a press conference ahead of a wreath laying and candle lighting  ceremony at the statue of Aqunio at Araneta Street in Bacolod City late yesterday afternoon.

About 60 Negrenses, mostly wearing yellow, who gathered at Ninoy’s statue, spoke of how the slain senator’s legacy should never be  forgotten.

Government Service Insurance System chairman Daniel Lacson Jr. said “For all of us who are here, it is about remembering the value of freedom and  democracy that was restored by Ninoy through his death, which woke up the Philippines to rise up and say no to the (Marcos)dictatorship.”

After his death there was a national cry for change wherein his widow, Corazon Aquino, became the symbol of  democracy and the victims of the martial law regime. The people rallied behind her just as they did for her son, Benigno Aquino III in 2010, Lacson said.

N4NM convenor Nana Yulo said Ninoy’s death is “a reminder that we should love our country and if it  is demanded even  give our life…that is the measure of love.”

Monsignor Guillermo Gaston said the youth should be reminded that the basis of our new freedom began with the death of Ninoy.

“Like the seed that has to fall into the ground so that new life may blossom, Ninoy had to die so freedom may blossom in our country. May we never allow the flower of freedom to fade,” People Power Commissioner Millie Kilayko said.

Leo Gaje III, a student leader, also  spoke of how Ninoy gave his life for the nation in the battle for the restoration of democracy, which the youth must always remember.

“The death of Ninoy gave birth to people power. Volunteers who made his son president are the new people power. Together we will build a great nation,” Alex Ozoa said.

The program at the Ninoy statue where the Knight of Columbus stood guard, was capped by the singing of Bayan Ko and the lighting of candles.

Meanwhile, an N4NM statement, read by Bern Eres, at the press conference at the Negros Press Club, said Ninoy stood for non-negotiable moral values in serving his countrymen and in making the nation great.

He suffered a martyr’s death to free the Filipino people from the rule of a tyrant, it said, leading to a People Power revolution and the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos.

“We continue to reaffirm his death as a challenge for us now  to translate it into a living dialectica