Remembering Corazon Aquino

During her last State of the Nation address, President Corazon Aquino recalled how her husband – Ninoy Aquino – came close to giving up the struggle to topple the Marcos dictatorship.

In her SONA she said: “In March 1973, six months after the declaration of martial law, Ninoy Aquino was taken blindfolded from Fort Bonifacio and brought to a place he did not know. He was stripped naked and thrown into a cell. His only human contact was a jailer. The immediate prospect, in such a place, was a midnight execution in front of a grave dug by him.”

The purpose was to break the spirit of Ninoy Aquino because he was “the compelling truth that men can stand up to a dictatorship.”

Three years after his incarceration, from the depths of despair, Ninoy wrote this poem of hope:

I am the burning candle of my

Life in the dark

With no one to benefit

From the light.

The candle slowly melts away

Soon its wick will be burned out

And the light is gone

If someone will openly gather

The melted wax, re-shape it,

Give it a new wick-

For another fleeting moment

My candle can once again

Light the dark,

Be of serve

One more time

And then...goodbye.

“This is the anguish of good men: that the good they do will come to nothing. That pains suffered in obscurity or sacrifices made away from the sight of men,; amount to shame , and mock the man or woman who bears them...This is not true. None of the good that we do is ever lost; not even in the light in an empty room is wasted.”

After her last SONA, the public perception was that Cory Aquino would fade away from the public consciousness and retire to an easy, comfortable life she fully deserved. But this was not her destiny.

From the time she stepped down as president to her passing away six years ago, she became the moral compass of the Filipino people. She became the moral leader that eventually became the model for a president the people knew was needed in this country.

Just like the poem written by her husband, she became the beacon of hope during the dark years when the Filipino experienced years of political instability and economic hardships.

Six years ago, on August 1, 2009,Corazon Cojuangco Aquino died of cardio respiratory arrest after being in the hospital from June 2009. She was first diagnosed with colorectal cancer in March 2008. It was her daughter Kris Aquino who publicly disclosed, in a television show, that her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

In her last SONA, there is a paragraph that seems so prophetic of her final year in this world. She said: “Paul says that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. The good we do is never lost. Some of it remains, if not in material good; then in a deeper experience, a more practiced hand, and a spirit made stronger by that which failed to break it  — stronger to meet greater challenges ahead.”

It was her son, now President Benigno Aquino III who announced her death to the media that morning. The Aquino family declined the government’s invitation for a state funeral.

Corazon Aquino’s casket was initially brought to St. Benilde Gymnasium at La Salle-Greenhills. The La Salle Brothers had always been supportive of Corazon Aquino’s advocacies including her call for the resignation of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

During the next three days and two nights, thousands lined up to file by her casket as a sign of respect. On August 3, the casket was transferred to Manila Cathedral. An estimated 200,000 people lined the route.

The crowd was thickest along Ayala Avenue where the funeral procession paused briefly at the Ninoy Aquino Memorial for the singing of Bayan Ko.

The Catholic Church  had allowed the remains of Corazon Aquino to lie in state under the Cathedral’s crossing making her the first woman and only the second layman to be given the honor which is usually reserved only for a deceased Archbishop of Manila.

On August 5, Corazon Aquino’s flag-draped casket was mounted on a flat bed truck similar to the one used for her husband’s funeral 26 years before. There were two differences. This time the truck was decked in white and yellow flowers arranged in an eight-rayed sunburst. Then there was an honor guard of service men from the four branches of the Armed Forces — Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines — who stood vigil all the way from Manila Cathedral to the Manila Memorial Park.

The funeral procession exited Intramuros at Anda Circle then passed along Roxas Boulevard, then Quirino Avenue and along Ayala Avenue in Makati. From there it proceeded down SLEX and Sucat Road in Parañaque before entering Manila Memorial Park. The funeral procession took more than eight hours. Hundreds of thousands of people, from all walks of life, lined the route to catch a glimpse of the passing funeral procession.

Only two other funeral processions has evoked as much public display of grief from almost the entire Filipino people. The first one was the death of President Ramon Magsaysay and the second one was the assassination of Ninoy Aquino.

The three  —  Ramon Magsaysay, Ninoy Aquino, Corazon Aquino — came from different backgrounds. But they had several common attributes. All three believed strongly in democracy. All three were trusted by the masses because they were living proofs that moral integrity was possible for people in public office. All three brought back hope to the Filipino nation during its darkest days. All three were proud to be Filipino.

President Ramon Magsaysay said, in one of his SONAs: “ If this Administration can claim any outstanding achievement during the past year, it the restoration of national self-respect and the revival of the people’s faith in the democratic way of life.”

Ninoy Aquino once said: “ The Filipino is worth dying for.”

President Corazon Aquino, on September 8, 2008, said in one of her last message:

“Ako’y nagpapasalamat sa inyong lahat lalong-lalo na sa Panginoong Diyos na ginawa Niya akong isang Pilipino. Talagang karangalan ko iyon na maging katulad niyo at maraming salamat sa lahat ng tulong na ibinigay ninyo sa akin.”

Here is the English translation: “ I am thanking you all and especially the Lord God that he made me a Filipino. It was indeed my honour to be like unto you, and many thanks for all the help that you all had given unto me.”

It was not only the Filipino people but the whole world that paid tribute to her and her pivotal role in world history. Tributes came from Pope Benedict XVI, Russian President Medvedev, Hillary Clinton and Queen Elizabeth II. There were two that historians should remember.

The first was from Canadian Ambassador Desjardins who said: “ She was an international icon of democracy, a global model of people power, and a passionate advocate of good governance.”

The second was East Timor President Ramos-Horta:  “ No amount of intellect or academic record can replace compassion and humility...Cory Aquino, through her compassion and humility, inspired me.”

Filipinos are a far, far better people that once they had a President and a leader called Corazon Aquino.

Where the Write Things Are’s  Class for Kids and Teens

Write Away! Weekend: Online Writing and tips to get published with Mina V. Esguerra on August 15 (1-4pm) at the Canadian American School Alphaland Makati Place. For registration and fee details contact 0917-6240196 / [email protected]

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]