I received another invite from philstar.com to share my own tribute to our late Pres. Cory Aquino. After watching the wake since Saturday morning until she was laid to rest last night, I had mixed feelings on how I could honor and pay tribute to a woman who has been a part of every Filipino’s life for the past twenty six years from the time Ninoy was assassinated on August 21, 1983 until the time of her death last August 1, 2009. I feel I could never give justice and could never find the right words to describe my own appreciation of her. Many things have been said about her, all glowing attributes on how she was as Ninoy’s wife, as a mother to her five children, as the revered lola to her apos, as a politician and the first woman president of our country. And to sum it all, she really is an icon of our democracy.
A year ago, I made a blog at Multiply as a tribute to Ninoy, My Own Memories of Ninoy. It was a trip down memory lane, twenty four or twenty five years ago. A year after Ninoy’s death, I had the chance to visit the exhibit at the Cojuangco Bldg. right behind BPI where I worked. It was there that I met Ballsy,Cory and Ninoy’s first child, a very charming lady who even signed my only treasure of Ninoy’s poems and prayers. It is now a prized possession in my book collections. Several times at the height of the rallies to oust Pres. Marcos, I also got the chance to meet Cory personally, she was then with some of her friends who regularly marched along Ayala Avenue while we were busy with confetti throwing and occasionally coming down to mingle with the crowd. One time, she was with Ninoy’s mother, Dona Aurora at the lobby of BPI and my officemates and I were so starstruck to see the mother and widow of our personal hero up close. She always had that charming smile on her face saying hello to everyone.
After watching the necrological services Tuesday night, listening to her friends describe her on how she touched their lives, I felt even more in awe of the person that she was. Fr. Arevalo in his homily described how the Aquinos were as a family and how Cory was as a personal friend. Like Kris, I could not stop the tears while watching the two-hour tribute to her. I was greatly touched by what her personal security shared, being a mother to them all and so supportive of their families.
The tremendous show of support and love from people from all walks of life in her funeral yesterday only proves that we as Filipinos could still make a big difference to our nation’s future as long as we set aside political bickering, enmities, and personal agenda. We could still be one as a nation and we could show to the world that we could shine through for a better Philippines.
Dreams And Escapes 
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