the end of an era . . . and the challenge to filipinos

for the past couple of weeks, filipinos were one in prayer - the healing of our former leader, liberator, and guiding light . . . former president maria corazon cojuanco-aquino.  streets have been covered with yellow ribbons and the media was giving frequent updates on the health of the former leader - the woman pinoys fondly call “tita cory”.

and then last saturday, the unavoidable happened and caught filipinos by surprise as they wake up early morning - tita cory has passed away . . . colon cancer has won.

as much as i know that it’s going to be part of the headlines for the coming days, never had i imagined its intensity to be so - a full coverage from the wake until the funeral, the whole nation (perhaps we can say the entire world) was grieving, and thousands immediately trooped to greenhills, the edsa shrine, the manila cathedral, even the aquino residence to pay their last respects to the woman the country loved dearly.  there was nothing much to see the past few days . . . only yellow ribbons, grief-stricken faces of filipinos as if their mother had died . . . well, come to think of it . . . the mother of the “free” philippines is gone . . .

while watching the media coverage of president aquino’s death, i came to wonder what really is it in her that made filipinos so fond of her . . . who was corazon aquino for them?

wanting an immediate answer for myself, i easily told myself that she is the woman, the widow of the assassinated senator ninoy aquino, who freed the country from dictatorship by leading a peaceful revolution at edsa and eventually becoming the president as she spearheads the healing of our land.  after coming up with that answer, i again challenged myself, ”teka lang, e para sa akin ba, sino si cory aquino?  what has she done in my life and what is her impact in my life?  why am i sad that she’s gone and what will be missing in my life now that she had died?”  with that, i started to look back . . . what were my early memories of cory aquino . . .

i suddenly realized myself going back to my early childhood memories, as much as i was already alive during ninoy’s assassination and even the edsa revolution, i guess i was too young to understand all of them . . . i honestly do not remember those events.  i saw myself as a school kid, studying philippine history, going back from lapu-lapu until the presidents of the philippines.

president aquino was the president when i was in grade school.  honestly, she was just freshly installed as the president and as a child, i never cared about current events . . . i wanted cartoons, i want to play . . . i don’t like news, it’s for old people.  i know nothing about cory’s presidency, her achievements, her projects, etc.  back then, i could only answer about the lives of the presidents before her until marcos - ‘yun ang mga nasa textbook e . . . kaya ‘yun ang alam ko.

but then wait! i remembered something . . . memories with my family started about a certain term . . . “balimbing”.  i learned about that term when i was young - a term which meant a person who favors both sides, favoring one side at one point then the other, in the next.

i guess that is the reason why when i was growing up, i thought people need to take a side . . . either you’re a “red,” meaning marcos or you’re a “yellow,” meaning cory.  if you are for both, then you are “balimbing”.  i remembered being confused when i was young, my father is a military man serving the navy after graduating from the philippine military academy, and he served 3 administrations - marcos, aquino, ramos.  back then, i thought we were “balimbing” . . . we have friends who were close aides of former president marcos so i thought we have to be “marcos” . . . but my dad is serving the government . . . that would also have to mean that we are for cory . . . so ano ba talaga kami?  marcos ba kami o cory?  malaking problema ko ‘yun nung bata ako . . .
with the stories of our family friends, even my dad, about marcos . . . it was enough for me to believe that he also cared for the land.  i believe the country improved during his time, but yeah, maybe the privilege of having ultimate power of the land went inside his head through the years.  for cory?  what nice thing can i say about her aside from leading a peaceful revolution and becoming the first female filipino president?  believe me, when i was young, i thought she was worth remembering because she is the first female filipino president . . . ‘yun lang . . . hey don’t get mad . . . i guess it’s just that i was too young to understand back then and even be involved or interested with current events.

back then, i can’t really say that she is a great president . . . mas kaya ko pang sabihin dati na si marcos ang magaling.  i could only remember the coup attempts during cory’s time e . . . as mentioned, dad served the government as a military officer . . . and i basically grew up spending not much time with him.  he was on frequent red alerts because of those coup attempts . . . for me, what will make me proud of cory?  yes, she survived the coup attempts . . . but for me, it meant spending less time with dad.

fast forward . . . i’m already in high school.  estrada time na . . . cory’s term as president was already in textbooks however, high school social studies already meant world history . . . i guess for me, it meant i will never really get to know more about cory . . . ayoko naman mag-research . . . tambak na ako ng school projects . . . hehehe

i guess i got to know who cory aquino was when i reached college.  having studied at up, a sense of nationalism grew inside my heart (i gave up my high school dream of working abroad for the sake of the country, naks!) i admired cory for helping in edsa 2 . . . i kinda was thankful for her, because at least, our generation was given a chance to somehow relive the power and magic of edsa.  from then on, i saw cory as the country’s adviser . . . a guiding light especially in times of political turmoil.

away from the limelight and on a personal level, i developed some sense of admiration for cory aquino.  before, we used to hear mass at the twin hearts at west triangle, cory aquino’s parish.  i consider it a privilege . . . cory aquino attends the same mass schedule with ours.  you know, i think it’s enough a privilege to at least have a glimpse of the famous icon but it was more of a blessing (a feeling that has grown stronger for the past couple of days) because she always sat in the row/pew with our family. 

during those moments, i got to see cory, not as a public figure, but as a normal citizen.  she quietly sits inside the church, silently prays while waiting for the mass to start.  there’s only 1 man seated behind her in decent casual clothes to serve as her escort/bodyguard - and take note, hindi exaggerated magbantay kay cory.  i loved seeing the space that the escort gives to cory - it made everyone inside the church comfortable, less tensed, and more peaceful.  cory had always remained simple, down-to-earth and never had she acted or displayed to the public that she’s a person of higher status than them. 

seeing that side of cory made it easy for me to realize why cory was so loved by people.   i believe cory was loved because she honored her people and kept the promise of serving them always when the filipinos gave her the task to be their leader.  cory was given power by her countrymen and she never abused that power - for me, that’s the best reason why filipinos love her until now . . . hindi naramdaman ng mga pilipino kay cory na ginamit, naisahan or ninakawan sila . . .

you know the testimonials i’ve heard about cory during her wake and funeral made me realize the possibility of being confident yet not boastful.  that is cory, albeit not wanting to become president, her heart was pure that she wanted to serve the country . . . she knew what she can and can not offer to the nation . . . she knew that although she wants a simple and private life, she believed that she is capable of running a nation that’s why she accepted the challenge of leading the nation . . . but she was never proud . . . she never boasted of her achievements . . . come to think of it, ngayon ko lang nalaman that she did well in school . . . almost became a lawyer had she not married ninoy aquino . . . it was just recently that i realized that hey . . . she really can run a country with her colorful resume . . . and all the while i thought she was just a housewife who became president because her husband was assassinated . . . some sort of sympathy thing lang but no . . . she was very capable . . .

cory respected her people . . . i liked hearing the stories about her respecting the opinions of her cabinet . . . never meddling/influencing them to make a certain decision out of favor for someone else . . . cory knew that although she was capable, running a country was something that was not simple.  she surrounded herself with capable cabinet members and made them feel that their opinion matters a lot.  cory listened and weighed all sides of the coin before making the final decision.  i wish our current leaders follow her that way.

cory led the people through example.  she respected the law and showed her people that no one really is above the law . . . not even her.  the stories about cory not wanting her security personnel to sound the sirens when she is on the road was true.  when i was young, there was an instance when we were on the road and suddenly, and silently, a long entourage of black cars and police motorcyles rallied . . . my mom was wondering what it was and my brother, immediately noticed one black mercedes benz with the license plate number “1″ in the middle of the convoy and immediately uttered “si cory ‘yun e!” that’s cory, hindi siya KSP . . . hehehe

another instance which i could never forget was the time when my family had dinner at a hotel before and saw cory and her family (kris was there) entering the hotel.  we arrived about the same time with the aquinos and of course, since cory was a former president, we just felt it proper that she and her companions enter the hotel first.  we consciously tried walking slow para mauna sila and what i saw afterward was one of the best reasons why i truly admire cory.  when she entered she stopped at the entrance where the hotel security personnel were and she willingly submitted herself for the sop security check.  the hotel security did not do so and just motioned for the party to enter while telling cory “ma’am, sige po, pasok na po kayo.” cory didn’t move and instead told the hotel security “hindi, dapat pati ako chini-check n’yo”.  she then opened her bag and motioned for the hotel security to check it.  hands down, president cory! i wish all politicians follow your lead.

now that cory aquino is gone, i believe all of us are groping in the dark.  what now?  our light is gone, can we make it without her?  i know we have all expressed our deepest gratitude to her for the service and guidance she has given us but we must all remember that it doesn’t end there.  beyond those expressions of “thank you’s,” i believe that the best way to show cory that we are really thankful to her is by preserving the legacy she has given.  let us all honor the former president by ensuring that the democracy is well taken care of.

let us follow cory’s example, that the road to true change and development is through us . . . it has to come from us.  let us fight for what we believe is right.  but also, let us all remember that freedom does not mean that we can also disobey the law.  ever since college, i have a famous line “walang karapatan magreklamo tungkol sa batas ang mga taong ‘di rin naman sumusunod doon”.  let us do our share of educating the people who do not know the law . . . ipakita natin sa kanila kung ano ang tama . . . or even for those who know the law but refuse to obey it, don’t mind them . . . ang importante, tayo, marunong sumunod.  you know, i believe na ang pilipino may hiya pa rin naman e . . . so let’s practice “duplication,” kung nakikita ng mga tao (the more the merrier and more effective it is) na tayo ginagawa natin ang tama, for sure mahihiya ang mga ‘yun at susunod din sila.  the more frequent that we practice these, the more it gets instilled within us. 

you know, sometimes i’d like to believe that maybe president cory was taken away from us now because god knows that filipinos already can stand on its own - that’s why it was already time for cory to be rewarded in heaven.  like a parent who never leaves his/her child’s side when the latter is still growing up and is still needing all the support and guidance, cory aided filipinos from 1986 until 2009.  but just like the time when a parent feels that the child has grown, matured, and felt that it can already stand on its own and make the best decisions for himself/herself, the parent takes a back seat to allow the child to continue the journey.  maybe that was it, cory has already done her share of walking side-by-side with us, teaching and guiding us on how to take care of our own freedom and democracy.  maybe now, she knows kaya na natin . . .

to end, i’m sure cory aquino felt our love for her during the past 5 days.  i’m betting that right now, she and ninoy are happily watching the country.  and as ninoy witnessed how cory served the filipino nation for the past 23 years plus our expression of love to his beloved wife, it won’t be hard to imagine that he’ll be falling in love with the same woman . . . the fourth time . . .
farewell, president corazon aquino . . . we’ll miss you and we’ll see you again when our time comes to be reunited with god in heaven . . .

–GI 30682

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