Atom: ‘L’ sign stands for ‘Laban,’ not ‘lapastangan’

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano flashing the “L” sign during his Facebook live on June 12. —SCREENGRAB FROM ALAN PETER CAYETANO FB LIVE

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano’s comparison of his group’s political struggle in the Senate to the fight waged by the late opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. against the Marcos dictatorship is “laughable,” “insulting” and “delusional,” the August Twenty-One Movement (Atom) said on Saturday.

“The delusions of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano know no bounds, as he compared their so-called ‘struggle’ in the Senate to that of the fight of Senator Ninoy Aquino against the Marcos Sr. dictatorship,” the group said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

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READ: Cayetano likens group’s struggle to Ninoy’s; raises ‘Laban’ sign

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“So take your ‘L,’ not as ‘Laban’ (Fight), but as ‘Lapastangan’ (an insult). An insult to the values that Ninoy Aquino and the Filipinos who toppled the Marcos dictatorship fought for,” it added.

The Filipino word lapastangan, in its noun, verb and adjective forms, means disrespectful or sacrilegious.

Atom was founded and led by Agapito “Butz” Aquino, one of the leaders of anti-Marcos movement in the 1980s. Laban stands for Lakas ng Bayan (Laban), an opposition coalition formed by Ninoy Aquino Jr., Butz’ older brother, for the 1978 parliamentary election. Ninoy, who campaigned while in detention, lost the election.

Butz formed Atom after Ninoy’s assassination on August 21, 1983, and the L-sign grew in popularity until the People Power Revolution of February 1986. Butz was elected senator the following year.

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Atom is now led by a younger group of leaders, including president Volt Bohol, Bien Gonzales, historian Michael “Xiao” Chua and Eiyo Aquino, grandson of Butz.

The statement came after Cayetano used the “L” sign during a Facebook livestream on June 12 and claimed that his bloc’s struggles in the Senate is similar to the Aquinos’ fight against the Marcos dictatorship.

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Atom argued that Ninoy Aquino fought against “fascism, corruption and the lack of accountability,” which it said were values opposed by the camp Cayetano now belongs to.

“It is ironic that this camp, after having endorsed and danced for the Marcoses in 2022, now try to present itself as Ninoy’s heirs. You are not Ninoy’s heirs. You are enemies of the values he represents,” the group said.

“You are not revolutionaries. You are ‘delusionaries,’ a new term coined especially for your lot,” it added.

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The group likewise renewed its call for Cayetano to resign as senator, accusing him and his allies of violating the law, pursuing power and obstructing the constitutional process for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.