The late senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.’s statue in Tarlac City was covered up during the Marcos-Duterte campaign event.

On Saturday, presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his running partner, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, wooed Tarlac City citizens for Eleksyon 2022.

Aquino’s statue was partly covered by a tent set up for a campaign gathering.

GMA News Online reached out to the Marcos camp for comment on the topic, but it has yet to respond as of the time of this post.

Meanwhile, when reporters approached Tarlac City Mayor Cristy Angeles to remark on the situation, she replied “Pabayaan na natin ‘yung mga bumabatikos. It’s time for forgiveness and healing. Magu-unite tayo.” (“Let’s leave the critics alone. It’s time for forgiveness and healing. We will unite.”)

Angeles also highlighted the positive welcome given to Marcos by the community.

“Nakita naman natin ang mainit na pagtanggap, pagsalubong sa kanya. Ganyan namin kamahal BBM… Buong Tarlac ganyan din, mainit din ang pagtanggap,”(“We saw the warm welcome, to greet him. That’s how we love BBM… The whole of Tarlac is the same, the reception is also warm,”) Angeles stated.

Senatorial candidate Gilbert Teodoro, a member of the UniTeam slate, claimed he was unaware of the event.

He added, however, emphasize that the UniTeam always give “respect with our words to everybody.”

When asked to comment on allegations of “historical revisionism” during the campaign, he said, “You ask the people whether that’s historical revisionism or not.” “There was revisionism after EDSA,” he said.

Aquino was a vocal opponent of the Marcos Sr. regime. After a three-year exile in the United States, he was killed on August 21, 1983, upon arrival at Manila International Airport.

The murder of the opposition senator triggered rallies that eventually led to the first EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, during which the Marcos family fled to Hawaii.

Corazon Aquino, Aquino’s wife, was then appointed to the president.