Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Members of the August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) hold a wreath-laying ceremony outside Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Paranaque City on Thursday, August 21, 2025, to mark the 42nd death anniversary of Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17813306538711781330651345.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Members of the August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) hold a wreath-laying ceremony outside Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Paranaque City on Thursday, August 21, 2025, to mark the 42nd death anniversary of Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News </div>MANILA — The August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) lambasted Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano for comparing his struggle for the Senate leadership to the sacrifice of former Sen. Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino against the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, calling it &quot;laughable and delusional&quot;.ATOM was organized in response to Aquino&#x27;s assassination in 1983. In a nearly 40-minute Facebook live on Friday, June 12, Cayetano lengthily discussed the costs it took for Filipino heroes to attain the country’s independence and likened it to his group’s ‘fight’ for Senate’s independence from the alleged influence of Malacañang and against corruption and poverty.He then flashed the ‘L’ sign which means ‘Laban’ or fight, an iconic symbol used to protest the Marcos Sr. regime “Gagamitin ko talaga yung laban kasi we have to continue fighting. Laban lang po. It&#x27;s worth the fight. We have to continue fighting,” Cayetano said.Cayetano and his allies say that they are fighting for the truth in corruption in flood-control projects and to keep the chamber independent of the executive branch, which recognizes Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as acting Senate president.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/7/cayetano-defends-senate-leadership-warns-against-malaca-ang-influence-0037">Cayetano defends Senate leadership, warns against Malacañang influence</a></div>ATOM called the appropriation of the symbol “at the very least, laughable, at the very most, highly insulting, in general, delusional.”The group pointed out that Aquino, an opposition figure who was detained in a military prison during the dictatorship, &quot;fought against fascism, corruption, and the lack of accountability, qualities which are evident among their camp&#x27;s patrons.&quot;Cayetano and the senators supporting him have been linked to the Dutertes, with Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte and his allies expressing <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/7/duterte-coalition-backs-bagmen-s-testimonies-cayetano-1710">support for his claim to the Senate presidency.</a>ATOM added that the Dutertes &quot;along with the Marcoses, represent the very nature of the evil which Ninoy fought against.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17813310068091781331004476.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Flowers are offered at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport-Terminal 1 in Paranaque City on Aug.21, 2022 in commemoration of the 39th death anniversary of Sen. Benigno &quot;Ninoy&quot; Aquino, Jr. The country&#x27;s democracy icon was assassinated upon his arrival in Manila after three years of exile, on August 21, 1983, triggering massive protests that led to the 1986 People Power Revolution and the end of the authoritarian rule of then President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.</div>The group also pointed out what it said was the irony of Cayetano’s camp ‘try[ing] to present itself as Ninoy’s heirs’ despite ‘having endorsed and danced for the Marcoses’ in 2022 elections.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/6/atom-slams-dismissal-of-remaining-asset-claims-in-marcoses-ill-gotten-wealth-case-1053">‘Totally unacceptable’: ATOM slams dismissal of remaining asset claims in Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth case </a></div>&quot;You are not revolutionaries — you are &#x27;delusionaries,&#x27; a new term coined especially for your lot,&quot; it said. The group reiterated its call for Cayetano to resign as a senator, saying he had disgraced the Senate and the country.

The August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) lambasted Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano for comparing his struggle for the Senate leadership to the sacrifice of former Sen. Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino against the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, calling it ‘laughable and delusional’.

The August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) lambasted Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano for comparing his struggle for the Senate leadership to the sacrifice of former Sen. Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino against the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, calling it ‘laughable and delusional’.

‘Laughable’: Group rejects Alan Peter Cayetano comparing self to Ninoy

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‘Laughable’: Group rejects Alan Peter Cayetano comparing self to Ninoy

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 13, 2026 02:35 PM PHT

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Updated June 13, 2026 07:23 PM PHT

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Alan Peter Cayetano

August Twenty-One Movement

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Ninoy Aquino

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