In Ninoy Aquino's honor, the Manila International Airport where he was assassinated was renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and his image is printed on the 500-peso bill. The Philippine Congress enacted Republic Act (R.A.) 9256, declaring August 21, the anniversary of his death, as Ninoy Aquino Day, an annual public holiday in the Philippines. Several monuments were built in his honor. Most renowned is the bronze memorial in Makati City near the Philippine Stock Exchange, which today is a venue of endless anti-government rallies and demonstrations.
Although Ninoy Aquino was recognized as the most prominent and most outspoken critic of the Marcos dictatorship, in the years prior to martial law he was regarded by many as being a representative of the entrenched familial bureaucracy which to this day dominates Philippine politics. While atypically telegenic and uncommonly articulate, he had his share of detractors and was not known to be immune to ambitions and excesses of the ruling political class. However, during his seven years and seven months imprisoned as a political prisoner of Marcos, Aquino read a book entitled Born Again by convicted Watergate conspirator Charles Colson and it inspired him to a religious awakening.
As a result, the remainder of his personal and political life would undertake a distinct spiritual sheen. He emerged as a contemporary counterpart of the great Rizal, who was among the world's earliest proponents of the use of non-violence to combat a repressive regime. Many remained skeptical of Aquino's redirected spiritual focus, but it ultimately had an effect on his wife's political career. While some may question the prominence given Aquino in Philippine history, it was his assassination that was pivotal to the downfall of a despotic ruler and the eventual restoration of democracy in the Philippines.
As part of Republic Act No. 9256, the Monday nearest August 21 was declared (SECTION 1. Section 26, Chapter 7, Book I of Executive Order No. 292, otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987) a nationwide special holiday (Ninoy Aquino Day) by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines and approved on July 25, 2007 by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines.