With Love and Thanks to Cory Aquino

I’ve never been more affected, let alone affected, by the loss of a famous figure in my country, except Cory Aquino’s. It’s been 12 days since she passed away and 6 days since she was laid to rest. But still here I am writing about her. Yes, this is late. Much of the commotion in the blogosphere that occurred about her and her death has slowly calmed down. And yet I still feel the need to contribute something in her name, even if it’s just a mere blog entry, a late blog entry. This is something I feel I have to do, in the time that I’m able, in honor of a true Filipino hero.

The thing is, I couldn’t sit down and actually type my thoughts during her wake and even a few days after her funeral. I was emotionally overwhelmed about her greatness, and what she and her husband, Ninoy Aquino had done for the Filipino people that I had so much to process mentally. I felt guilty that if not for her death, I wouldn’t have realized the reality, the magnitude and the effect of what she did for us Filipinos. I was so inspired by her that I felt loss for a moment amidst my then-apathetic Pinoy spirit.

I’ve always known about her, from the history books during elementary and high school to the fact that she’s Kris Aquino’s mother. But I never actually thought about how much she and her family had sacrificed and how brave she was for what she did to us. I was never able to dig deep behind her title, “Icon of Democracy.” Not until now. Before I always said that I was proud to be a Filipino. But now, after Cory’s passing, my pride has grown a lot deeper than I could have imagined. Now I’m proud of being a Filipino because I had a leader named Corazon C. Aquino.

What really amazes me about her is that she was a reluctant leader in the beginning. She never had any political aspirations. She was just a housewife to an assassinated politician. I read somewhere that she once said, “What on earth do I know about being president?” Yet she took up the challenge and she was the one who ousted a dictator. She had not only become the Philippine’s first woman president, but the first woman president in Asia. She was chosen by the people and she was elected through a bloodless People Power Revolution. It was God’s will and as hard as it may be for her, she accepted it and never looked back.

She was known for her being religious and for relying strongly in the power of prayer. I read from her grandson, Jiggy Cruz’s blog, that one of the most important things he has learned from his grandmother is to always do your best and let God do the rest. I’ve always heard this motto before but it’s only now that I’ve realized how simply true it is. I’ve witnessed that in Cory Aquino’s life. Life may be complicated with all its intricacies, but it’s comforting to know that we just have to do the best we can and it’s all up to God to do the rest. As hard as we may think our obstacles are, we can surely surpass them. It may not seem like it at first but in the long run, good always triumphs over the evil. God never leaves us alone.

I prefer referring to Cory Aquino as an icon instead of a politician. To me she was never much of a politician the way the word politician refers to the other (filthy) leaders of this country. She genuinely did the best she can to help people. Her main weapon was her sincerity and prayer. Her administration may not be perfect, in fact it was criticized much. But still she was the epitome of a great leader. She taught us that every leader should have sincerity in his/her heart. The main reason why I felt so sad knowing that she’s already gone is because I see her as a genuinely good and kind person. I’ve only seen her in the TV but I can honestly feel her goodness. She was that transparent. She’s the only Filipino I’ve come to know who I think deserves to be canonized.

It’s sad to think that it has to be her death which has awakened a patriotic Pinoy spirit in me. Before I never really cared much about the politics of my country because as far as I was concerned, they were all the same – all Filipino politicians were corrupt and were hungry for money, except Cory Aquino. I had only voted once since turning 18 because I never felt the responsibility to do so. The way I saw it, I had not much of a choice among those running for office because they’re pretty much all the same – they fool the Filipino people with their over the moon promises of good deeds during the campaign period. But as soon as they’re in the office it’s all corruption. I used to think what’s the point of voting someone when they’re all the same. Bad politics in this country have caused the rich Filipino people to become richer, while those who are poor becomes poorer. So why give a damn about those lying politician bastards? But now, while realizing how Cory Aquino fought for our democracy and how bravely she restored our nation after long years of being held captive by Marcos’s Martial Law, I saw how she loved the Filipinos and our country. I certainly don’t want her efforts to be put to waste. I care for my country! Some politicians that have followed her since have already tarnished what she had restored of this country from the rubble of Martial Law. Those evil politicians can fool us and steal all they want. I’m still going to make sure that I had done at least something to fight for the goodness of my country. Registering to vote in 2010 is my way. Surely those who are running for office may still be the same corrupt politicians. But I have learned to choose wisely and vote for the “best” (at least the least bad) one. The lesser evil. Knowing that I had done my part, I can keep on fighting and praying for the future of our country with a clear conscience. Cory’s patriotic spirit is contagious, even when she’s no longer in this world.

While watching her necrological service and her funeral and seeing a lot of political figures of our country, I couldn’t help thinking if these politicians not only wonder if their own funeral would also be attended and mourned by that much Filipinos, but also felt guilty of their faults during office while reflecting on Cory Aquino’s life. I fervently hoped that they had at least felt remorse and was ashamed of themselves even for just a second. How I wish that every politician at present has a heart like Cory Aquino. If cloning is a natural thing in this world, I would want Cory Aquino’s goodness to be cloned, especially her sincerity and kindness.

During her funeral, as the cortege traveled from Manila Cathedral to Manila Memorial Park, I became overwhelmed by how much Filipinos came out on the streets to bid their final farewell to the late President. I have never seen anything like it. Nor have I felt so much Pinoy pride in my heart. If only I was already born to witness Ninoy Aquino’s funeral way back in 1983 and was old enough to understand the first People Power Revolution in 1986, I would have already found much more meaning in being a Filipino as much as I do today. I got teary-eyed seeing thousands of people break into applause as her casket passed. As Jim Paredes put it in his article, the gesture was “an affirmation of the good she had done, a recognition of her decency and integrity as a person and her untiring efforts in expressing tangibly her love for our country.” I couldn’t agree more.

Had I been in Manila, I would have gone to the streets to see her cortege. She was the most respectable President I ever knew. The extent of what I can do on the day she was put to her final resting place was to wear yellow at work. It made me glad seeing other people wear yellow and also yellow ribbons tied on vehicles, on entrances of schools, on the door of where I worked, on the fence outside a church. It brought me comfort knowing that people remembered her and what she did for our country. I smiled every time other people would talk about what they feel about Cory, about what she did for us and about how her death has affected them. I’m grateful for the stories of several people who lived to witness the ousting of Ferdinand Marcos because Cory Aquino stepped up to the challenge 23 years ago. Tita Els told me they banged pots and pans out of joy and pride, together with my parents and our other relatives, way back in 1986 when Cory was elected president.

Seeing Kris Aquino made her statements with tears on TV about her mother’s passing and seeing the Aquino family, whom I was able to get to know on TV and have grown to love, mourn, it was like I also felt at peace knowing that their pains of loss are eased with the belief that the Cory Aquino they loved was finally resting in peace, and that she is finally reunited with her husband. I’d like to think that this whole Ninoy Aquino and Cory Aquino legacy is first and above all, a true love story. A love story that had gone through what no other love story has gone. Finally, after so much and so long, they’re finally reunited happily in Heaven, just as they were meant to be.

It’s amazing thinking about what God has meant for Ninoy and Cory’s lives. I believe that we can overcome the hardest things in this world if we have faith in a power greater than ourselves. I also believe even more in the thought that God has a plan for each and every one of us. We just have to learn to let Him take the wheel and be brave and faithful enough to do our best and to accept His will. I hope that the future generations of Filipinos will know how these two fought for our freedom. I’ll be forever grateful for Ninoy and Cory for sacrificing so much for our freedom. I hope I get to meet them someday in the afterlife. After all these, the way I see the Philippines, the Filipino patriotic spirit, the Pinoys, the color yellow, even Kris Aquino and even myself as a citizen of this country, will never ever be the same.

*Images are from here, here and here.

~ by Michelle on August 13, 2009.