Marcos joins world leaders, multitude of mourners at pope’s funeral

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos joined around 170 world leaders and as many as 250,000 mourners at the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican City yesterday.

Marcos, accompanied by First Lady Liza Marcos, arrived in Rome Friday morning (Vatican time).

Photos released by the Presidential Communications Office showed the President in a dark gray suit and the First Lady in a black dress arriving at St. Peter’s Square for the late pontiff’s funeral. They were both wearing a pin of the Philippine flag on their left chest.

The PCO and Philippine Ambassador to Italy Neal Imperial shared photos of Marcos’ separate interactions with US President Donald Trump and former US president Joe Biden at St. Peter’s Square. A video posted by GMA News on social media showed the Marcoses conversing with Biden and wife Jill before the funeral mass started at 4 p.m. (Philippine time).

The President’s trip to Vatican is until April 28 based on Special Order 424 he issued on Thursday.

Marcos earlier declared a period of national mourning over the passing of Francis, who he said “holds a special place in the hearts of the Filipino people.”

Francis visited the Philippines in January 2015, during which he offered comfort and solidarity to the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

According to Marcos’ Proclamation 871, the Filipino people recognize the late pope “as a global leader of compassion and a tireless advocate of peace, justice and human dignity.”

The Philippines is predominantly Roman Catholic.

On Friday, the First Couple were spotted at Piazza Navona, where they were having coffee and appeared to be reminiscing the time they were dating there, according to a GMA 7 report. The First Couple tied the knot at the San Francesco Convent in Fiesole, Italy on April 17, 1993.

According to the report, the First Lady was teary eyed when she reminisced about the kindness of the late pope.

“When I met him, he (was) humble and kind, and you feel like you’re blessed by God,” she said.

Post-Yolanda visit

In Tacloban City, more than 6,000 faithful – including Speaker Martin Romualdez – attended a mass at the new Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) airport’s tarmac yesterday in honor of the late pope and to mark the 10th anniversary of his visit to Tacloban City after the devastation of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

The DZR airport tarmac was the exact location of the mass Francis himself officiated on Jan. 17, 2015, more than a year after Yolanda ravaged Tacloban in November 2013. Msgr. Ramon Stephen Aguilos was the main celebrant at yesterday’s mass.

“Pope Francis gave us more than hope,” Romualdez said after the mass. “He showed the world how to lead with compassion. He stood with us – not just as a pope, but as a father to the suffering. His presence gave us strength to rise.”

“He gave us the courage to begin again. When we felt forgotten, he remembered. When we were broken, he came to bless the brokenness. That is something people never forget,” he said.

Romualdez recalled the powerful image of Francis celebrating mass under stormy skies in a yellow raincoat.

“That yellow raincoat became our banner of faith. We saw in him not a distant leader, but a loving father: present, soaked in our sorrow and filled with love,” Romualdez said.

“We honor not only the man who came to comfort us, but the spirit he awakened in us: a spirit of unity, of resilience and of boundless hope. In Tacloban, we don’t just remember the pope: we carry him in our hearts. His visit was brief, but the impact was eternal,” he added.

Blessing for escorts

In Quezon City, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino recalled being given the privilege of providing security to the pope, as chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

“I had the privilege of escorting him during his visit to Tacloban. I was also one of those who provided his close-in security, in coordination with the Presidential Security Group then,” Tolentino said at a press briefing.

“After Pope Francis blessed me at the Papal Nuncio’s residence, I relayed a request through his aide if His Holiness could also bless his MMDA escorts,” he added.

The MMDA motorcycle escorts were at the pope’s side throughout his stay in the stormy Tacloban.

“Pope Francis called them in. The MMDA motorcycle riders all kneeled before him, and then he approached and blessed them, one by one. It was a warm and heart-touching scene,” Tolentino said. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Marc Jayson Cayabyab