the final farewell to President Cory Aquino

yesterday was a very emotional day to the Philippines, it was a day when finally, former President Aquino was brought to her final resting place. hundred thousands of people went out on the streets to see the cortege despite the strong winds and rains. i may not be one of those people but i did my own sacrifices too - our village was already flooded but we didn't dare to turn the TV off despite the threat of the water getting inside our house. we were all glued to the TV from morning til evening and when Pres. Aquino's coffin was already sealed inside her tomb, i went up to the my room and fell asleep, feeling tired as if i was on the streets following her cortege.

the whole event was overwhelming - starting from the requiem mass to the almost-8-hour long procession from Manila Cathedral to Manila Memorial Park to the burial of Pres. Aquino. the whole event makes each and every Filipino proud that they had her as their president...proud that they are Filipino.

the homily delivered by Fr. Arevallo highlighted the love that Pres. Aquino had for the Philippines and for the Filipinos and it also emphasized the sacrifices she have given for this love. clearly, she have gone through too much as Fr. Arevallo stated that she have died a long time ago from the moment her husband was assassinated and that she have been repeatedly dying since then (when she was asked to run for the presidency, when she led the EDSA People Power in 1986, etc.). in truth, she could've just chosen a quiet live with her children after her husband's death but she stayed and fought for what her husbands has been fighting for - FREEDOM!

and for simply choosing to stay with the Filipinos, we thank her for that...for not abandoning us, for taking care of us...

the speech given by her youngest daughter, Kris Aquino-Yap, was another heartfelt and tearjerking event. despite all the entertainment controversies and scandals she involved herself into, she is still one of the people here in the Philippines that the people will listen to. she mentioned that her family don't know how to thank all the people who have went to her mother's funeral and to the people who have waited in the streets last Monday despite the rain and the hot rays of the sun...one of the people interviewed yesterday said that that is all they could do for the former president, according to her, the sacrifice that they have to do will only have to last for a day, it is nothing compared to the sacrifice that Pres. Aquino have done. i agree, nothing an ordinary Filipino could do that would be able to repay what has Pres. Aquino have given to everyone - she lost her husband because of the Filipinos and yet she stayed and fought for the Filipinos, it was just so overwhelming that the couple really proved to the Filipinos and to the world that the Filipinos are indeed worth dying for.

i'm sure that the Filipinos are also very grateful for the five children of Pres. Aquino. they were robbed off the time that they should have spent with their parents and yet, even after their father died, they continued to share their parents to the Filipinos. Kris Aquino may have said that they are clueless on how they can thank each and every Filipinos for the love they have shown for their parents but in reality it us, the Filipinos, who don't know how to thank their family.

again, Pres. Aquino made each of us proud to be a Filipino. when Lea Salonga was singing "Bayan Ko" as the Pres. Aquino's coffin is being taken out of the Manila Cathedral, i can't help but feel the love that the former president have showered to everyone of us. then when it was the APO Hiking Society along with all the guest singers singing "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo", i can't help but feel proud that Pres. Aquino became one of our presidents. though she may done much for the government, it was understandable, the Philippines was poor and is starting from scratch during 1986...all she could do is put the country back to the pedestal and she exactly did that. i'm proud to say that it was her who gave the Philippines a new life, a new hope, a new freedom...also, she put the Philippines under the international spotlight, she made other countries look up to us...

i may not have been born during the assassination of Sen. Ninoy Aquino in 1983 or during the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution but i don't need to live during those times to see for myself what an amazing woman she was. in fact, i wouldn't want to live during those times. it may be amazing to witness the People Power but i'm already contented with the period i'm living in...this is the period that she have fought hard for, the period she wanted for the future generations to live in, the period where freedom and democracy is running the country. though there are those politicians who are taking advantage of this democracy, she has always been there to defend the people from them...and now that she's gone, it's up to the Filipinos to fight for themselves.

Pres. Aquino is a woman of purity...she never wanted power, in fact, during her term, she couldn't wait for it to end...her life may seem amusing because whatever happened to her during her lifetime is something that she never imagined to happened but, nonetheless, we thank her for letting God's will take over her...isn't it ironic? the person who was able to epitomize what a president should really be is a person who never dreamed of being a president in the very beginning?

i'm a youth who didn't witness all of the dark events that transpired in my own country but is thankful for Pres. Cory for not letting me and my fellow youths to witness them...the freedom that we are experiencing, we owe it all to her...

once again...

thank you, former President Cory Aquino...

our president,

our mother,

our hero....

[picture from Yahoo! News]

the Cory Magic

students may have been continuing to go to school and people who have work continues to go to their offices but the feeling of sadness is definitely in the midst.

the Filipinos have lost a very important person in their lives...
the Filipinos have lost their mother...

the Philippines continues and will continue to mourn for the death of former President Cory Aquino.

yesterday, when her funeral was moved from La Salle-Greenhills to Manila Cathedral, thousands of people went to the streets and waited for her casket to pass. i was able to witness the prosession - i was at work, at the 42nd floor of our building and i saw the preparation that the City of Makati have undergone for her (traffic enforcers are dressed in yellow, yellow ribbons and cloths hang on the building, etc.). i saw how people began to fill the long street of Ayala Avenue and how they waited despite the unbearable heat of the sun in high noon.

the truck carrying the casket of President Aquino stopped in front of her husband's, former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, monument in Makati. i saw how emotional was that event when i got home and see it on TV. but even though i was not down on the streets, despite the height and the glass window, i, along with my officemates, could hear the people praying, singing and chanting "Cory" with the "Laban" sign up in the air while yellow confettis pour from buildings.

i was honored to be there. i may not have gone down to the streets but seeing the whole thing happened while i was at a high place is enough for me - if i was not there, i would never see how people began to fill the streets, etc.

President Aquino may not have been groomed to lead a country but despite that, she was obviously the most loved president of the Filipinos. freedom and democracy are among her legacies and no other presidents - be it those who have already replaced her and those who will replace the current one - will be able to surpass her gift to the Filipinos and to the Philippines.

for the modern era, she have sacrificed so much for the Philippines and that sacrifice can never be surpassed by anyone - perhaps, in the next century or so but not anytime soon.

she is a president, a mother and a heroine to all the Filipinos...

the Philippines may be mourning right now but i, personally, can feel something else aside from the sadness and loneliness that is wrapping the hearts of the Filipinos. just like a child who have lost his or her mother, the Philippines will have to learn to stand on its own - the Filipinos must learn to stand on its own, it is already the time for the ordinary Filipinos to fight for the freedom and democracy that President Aquino have strived for the people. it's definitely clear that the Filipinos would not let that sacrifice go to waste...

unity is perhaps crawling back to the Filipino people, change is perhaps walking back to the Philippines' door...this is perhaps what the people is talking about after seeing the thousands of people who went out on the streets yesterday to give their respect, love and final goodbye to the Mother of Philippine Democracy - the undying "Cory Magic"...

[picture from Yahoo! News]

RIP Former President Cory Aquino

i slept at my friend's house and i woke up at 9am...my friend is already awake and she was watching TV with her mom and the reporter from the TV was talking about the details about Cory Aquino's wake.

"Patay na si Cory?" i asked, surprised while i followed my friend to the dining area.

"Oo," she answered, "kaninang 3:18am..."

the event didn't come as surprising (well, i was surprised because i didn't expect to happen now, but maybe i will never expect it to happen anytime) since she's been battling against Colon Cancer ever since last year (there are already several personalities here in the Philippines that had died because of Cancer and the most recent that i could remember are Rudy Fernandez and Francis Magalona). despite having progress and was able to be released from the hospital, she was once again brought back in and was said to be confined for an undefinite time, so i know that it will come soon (add to that is Kris Aquino's - her daughter who is a talkshow host/actress - absence from all of her shows).

obviously, the Philippines is mourning today and will be mourning tomorrow or so. i mean, people all over the country have been organizing various prayer mass for Cory Aquino's speedy recovery ever since she was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. besides, Cory Aquino is a very important person in our society. even though she's no longer the president of the country (ever since 1992), every word she says still weighs tremendous amount of importance and her opinions are always asked during the height of various political issues.

she was an awesome woman. i may not be born during the time when she led EDSA People Power back in 1986 to witness how she ousted the dictator rule of former President Ferdinand Marcos, but her every appearance in the media being interviewed because of various political controversies is enough to make me learn that she is a well respected woman in our country. and i bet, Cory Aquino is the only woman or president that the Filipinos respected this much.

she restored democracy to the Philippines - something that the present and future youths will forever be thankful of. i mean, children born after the reign of Marcos never had a chance to experience his dictatorship and his Martial Law. but of course, each and every Filipino is thankful for that democracy.

she became an inspiration and model not only to the Philippines but also to the whole world. the 1986 EDSA People Power became an instrument to other countries to sought freedom and democracy from the authoritarian, dictorship and communism rule they are under. leaders all over the world were also inspired by her and they highly respect her. women all over the world especially to countries where women are treated with not-so-much importance compared to men admired her strength especially when Cory Aquino's husband, Ninoy Aquino, was assassinated in 1983. when she became the Philippines' first female president, women from other countries also began to sought for the highest political position there is in their country, already believing that they can also lead their own country.

isn't awesome? that as a quiet housewife, she was able to create such a huge impact all over the world?

her death will be in the hearts of the Filipinos and her advocacy for freedom and democracy will be carried on - especially at this time when in just less that a year, the Philippines will again held their election in 2010. the Philippines is once again crying out for democracy, feeling that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have robbed that off from everyone. maybe not all Filipinos look at Cory Aquino this highly (her regime was the period when various coup attempts occured and there are those who are against her because of her land reform law that she passed but is still not executed) but i'm sure that many of us, she is the Mother of the Philippine Democracy and now that she's dead, a lot of Filipinos would not allow anyone - even their current president who is also a woman - to deny them the democracy that Cory Aquino have strived for in order to give it to them...

thank you so much, former President Cory Aquino.

thank you for the sacrifices you have given our country...

thank you for the sacrifices you have given for us, Filipinos...

thank you for the freedom and the democracy...

thank you for everything...

may you rest in peace...

[picture from Time.com]