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, h…