Benigno Aquino Jr.

Aquino was a senator and governor of Tarlac who became the face of opposition to Marcos, investigating massacres and forming coalitions with other Liberal Party leaders. When martial law came down in 1972, he was arrested and held for seven years - Marcos' most famous political prisoner. He founded his own party, Lakas ng Bayan, and ran candidates from prison in 1978; all lost. After a heart attack in 1980, Marcos allowed him to leave for treatment in the United States, where he spent the early '80s rallying crowds and becoming the regime's loudest critic abroad. As the Philippines worsened, he decided to go back and face what was coming. He was killed on August 21, 1983, stepping off the plane. His death did what his life had tried to do: it revitalized the opposition, launched his wife Corazon into power, and made the anniversary of his murder a national holiday.