People from all walks of life honor Cory Aquino

First posted 01:14:08 (Mla time) August 02, 2010
Christian V. Esguerra Jeannette Andrade Fe Zamora
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—A year after her death, tributes to the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino came in many poignant forms—from a President who vowed to uphold his mother’s legacy to a retired policeman who got up early just so he could sing many of her favorite songs by her tomb.

Priests and nuns in many parts of the country led thousands in prayer. A mayor of a small Visayas town noted that, out of sheer gratitude for Cory’s “sacrifices,” he and his people made sure tribute billboards put up when she died remain mounted to this day.

And many more Filipinos from all walks of life honored the Lady in Yellow by simply donning her signature color and flocking to the different memorials on Sunday despite the threat of heavy rains.

President Benigno Aquino III led one of several rites celebrating the heroism of his mother, who led the 1986 People Power uprising that restored Philippine democracy, and whose death from colon cancer at age 76 last year became a springboard for her son’s rise to power.

“It is still quite difficult to grasp how one person’s death could have such a huge impact on our nation in such a short time,” Mr. Aquino told the gathering at La Salle Green Hills’ St. Benilde Gym, where Cory’s wake was held last year.

“However, Cory Aquino was one extraordinary woman who in so many milestones in her life had already made the impossible possible,” he said.

Mr. Aquino acknowledged that were it not for her death, he would not have run for president.

Clamor for change

Just a month into office, Mr Aquino called on the people to rally behind his platform of good governance.

“The clamor of our people for change is so deep, and so widely expressed, that none of us can afford to be bystanders,” he said. “Join me in the path to justice, to genuine order and development, in the journey toward the fulfillment of our dreams,” he added in Filipino.

Mr Aquino and his four sisters also unveiled a marker honoring Cory for her “iconic stand on democracy.”

The marker also recalls the pivotal 1986 snap election in which Cory, the politically inexperienced widow of slain opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr., challenged the 20-year rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The La Salle gym then served as venue for the election quick-count.

Sunday’s commemoration, dubbed “Her Legacy, Our Promise: The People’s Tribute to Cory Aquino,” drew 1,500 to 2,000 people, mostly from the government and the middle class.

Among those in attendance were Vice President Jejomar Binay, Mr. Aquino’s running mate Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, the President’s girlfriend Shalani Soledad, and members of his Cabinet.

Soledad attended the Mass but quietly left as soon as the program ended. She was seated several feet away from her boyfriend, who was on the front row between his nephew Jiggy and sister Pinky.

A Church leader close to the Aquino family reminded the President not to perpetuate the “corrupt” system which he supposedly inherited, and that there should be a smooth transfer of power at the end of his six-year term.

“As you continue to lead us to the land of our dreams, do not forget June 30, 2016—make it easy for your successor,” Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in his homily.

“You know how hard it is to inherit a corrupt system. Don’t do it unto your successor,” Socrates stressed.

A prayerful Cory

Villegas described the late Cory Aquino as “our most prayerful President who never missed a chance to encourage us to pray and whose example of prayer, translated into her life, was a source of inspiration for so many.”

“The memory of Tita Cory teaches us the greatness of simplicity,” he said. “She gave us her best when she was our President and yet she remained detached and unaffected by the trappings of power and prestige.”

Villegas, a vocal critic of Mr. Aquino’s predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, also commended the President “for restoring our trust in government and for showing that public officials are indeed honorable people.”

Kris: ‘Promise kept’

Earlier in the day, a star-struck crowd greeted the arrival of Cory’s celebrity daughter Kris at the Aquino Shrine at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and Padre Burgos Street in Manila.

Addressing about 800 supporters from the foot of her parents’ monuments, the youngest of the Aquino siblings described the passing year since Cory’s death as a big journey for the Aquino-Cojuangco family.

“Mom, we fulfilled our promise to you,” said Kris, a popular and often controversial TV talk show host and commercial endorser. “We loved one another and became useful citizens. I know you are at peace and happy.”

‘Shout it out’

“Just tell P-Noy of your grievances and problems and he will find a way to resolve them. I have only one request, if he is doing his job well and he has done good for you, shout it out. Let him feel he is not alone,” she told the crowd.

“He has nobody to love,” she said, apparently alluding to Mr. Aquino remaining a bachelor at 50.

“But he loves each and every person in this country. His heart belongs to you. All I ask for is reciprocation. Give him back this love and service he has dedicated to you,” Kris said.

Vows before the grave

Later in the afternoon, President Aquino joined family members, friends and supporters in prayer before the graves of the late former president and that of her husband, the namesake of the President, at Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City.

“If we can promise that everyday we pray for President Aquino, that he will be the greatest president of our time, can we promise?” Catalino Arevalo, a Jesuit priest who served as Cory’s spiritual adviser, asked the gathering.

“Promise!” the crowd of about a hundred replied in chorus.

Chants of “Noynoy! Noynoy” announced the arrival of Mr. Aquino and sisters Ballsy, Pinky, Viel and Kris at the grave site at around 3 p.m.

“This is Cory weather,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said, noting the gray skies and the occasional clap of thunder. It rained when Cory was buried on Aug. 5 last year, Luistro recalled.

Ordinary Filipinos also trooped to the cemetery. “We felt she was also our mother,” said Carmen Amado-Cruz, who laid flowers at Cory’s grave.

Her favorite songs

With an electric guitar and a portable sound system, retired Senior Police Officer 4 Nestor M. Daracan arrived at the cemetery as early as 7 a.m. and started playing right away, taking only short breaks.

He was still singing his heart out when more Cory admirers began arriving in the afternoon.

The former police officer said he was with the Presidential Security Group (PSG) during the Cory administration, and that “she used to request these songs” at social functions in Malacañang. “That’s why I’m here,” he said.

His repertoire included “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “The Wonder of You,” “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” and “Deep in My Heart.”

In Iloilo province, members of the local chapter of the Noynoy Aquino For President Movement (NAPM) and other allied volunteers wore yellow—the Aquinos’ campaign color—in memory of the democracy icon.

NAPM Iloilo coordinator Dan Cartagena offered a prayer over “Pinoy Talk,” his group’s radio program on dyRI.

Civic leader Rowena Barte-Zulueta, one of the “yellow volunteers,” said the weekly program seeks to help Mr. Aquino in implementing his programs and “continuing the fight for change.”

Cory billboards still up

In Pavia town in Iloilo, billboards put up to honor Cory at the time of her death have remained in display in key areas a year later.

“We still remember Cory for her legacy and sacrifice for Filipinos and we didn’t find any reason to remove the billboards,” Pavia Mayor Arcadio Gorriceta told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Saturday.

In Cebu, the Catholic Church offered special prayers during Mass on Sunday. Msgr. Esteban Binghay, Episcopal Vicar of the Cebu Archdiocese, said all his Masses Sunday were dedicated to Cory’s memory.

Cebu nuns

The nuns at the Carmelite monastery in Cebu also offered special prayers.

In Tarlac, the Aquinos’ native province, a Mass and public viewing of the film titled “A Tribute to Cory—The Icon of Democracy” will be held at the capitol Tuesday morning, according to Arvin Cabalu, information officer of Gov. Victor Yap. With reports from Nestor P. Burgos Jr. and Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas; Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon; Inquirer wires