Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The Lady in Yellow

I was too young when Ninoy Aquino was assassinated and EDSA 1 happened. As much as I tried to rack my brain of EDSA memories from 23 years ago I could not. Maybe because Mama was a Marcos loyalist and discussing EDSA 1 would mean reliving the last days of her idol.

When I grew older and became more politicized after voraciously gobbling editorials from PDI, Philippine Star, Today and opinions from the likes of Max Soliven, Randy David, Conrado de Quiros, Amando Doronila I learned who Ninoy Aquino was and why he was assassinated. I learned who Cory Aquino was and how she came into power.

She was, as the media put it, an icon of democracy and the nation's moral compass. So when she died on the early hours on Saturday after more than a year of battling colon cancer Jolina wept without respite. The Filipino mourned. And so did the heavens.

What made Cory endearing to Filipinos is not because she had Ninoy Aquino as a husband or Kris Aquino as a daughter but because she was not the traditional politician you see on TV and read about on the news. She was sincere, decent, honest, and good. The outpouring of sympathy that she has received from all social classes since her death is a testament that the Filipino appreciated these traits that we seldom see in our present crop of politicians.

Today when she is finally laid to rest at the Manila Memorial Park I will be watching it on TV. The first time in many weeks that I will be tuning in to Philippine TV. Manny Pacquiao could not make me do that. Nor Michael Jackson. Corazon C. Aquino did.

Allow me to end this paean of mine by quoting a few lines from Howard Chan-Eoan's article on Aquino in Time Magazine.

"Whenever the country appeared to be in a crisis, Cory Aquino rose above the bureaucratic procrastination that had always bogged it down, reminding her people that they once astonished the world with their bravery — and that they could do it again. But Filipinos must now take stock. Whom will they march with now that their saint has gone to meet her God?"

14 comments:

Visual Velocity said...

Did GMA visit her wake?

The Scud said...

yes, she did. hindi masyado pinansin ng media. hehe...

Anonymous said...

she was different from traditional politicians because she was not one. statesman siya. i admire her for what she has done with the attitude of the people. and i so love that line from time.

len said...

Cory proves that in life and in death, she is one extraordinary person. :p

The Scud said...

prinsesamusang > galing ng line no? i wish i have that gift. :D

len > she is. meron pa bang katulad nya sa mga politiko ngayn? mag rant lang ako ng kaunti. putik ang mga presidentiables. pumapel pa talaga kahapon. gggrrr...

Jerick said...

i wont be surprised kung magiging saint si cory.

iya said...

she is with her soulmate now.

The Scud said...

jerick > the idea of making cory a saint made me cringe. hero definitely but a saint?

iya > wow. nag-comment ka na! bring it on! hehe.

len said...

Scud, sinabi mo pa. I was also ranting about it last wednesday. Si Mar kumakaway pa at si Jamby namigay ng yellow bracelet with her face as a tag.

escape said...

hehehe... nice quote from time magazine. let's hope that the people will be empowered instead of being hopeless after her death.

duke said...

hooray for willie revillame.
hooray for jambi madrigal and her yellow bracelets.
i've been watching youtube a lot.
natawa ako sa idea of cory being a saint.

iya said...

ah ganon gusto mo pa ha.hehehe. teka anu naman masasabi mo kay jamby madrigal?alam mo ba na meron syang pinamigay na mga bracelet na may mukha nya sa mla memorial park.mas nafeel ko pa ang pakikiramay ng mga anak ni marcos kesa sa kanya na punong puno ng panggagamit.jamby for president?pls! katulad ni gloria, never again.tama na ang isang malaking pagkakamali na mahalal ka dyan sa senado.at excuse me di kayo magkalevel ni miriam, sya baliw lang, ikaw baliw in any sense..
...nga pala di ko rin matanggap ang pagiging national artist ni carlo j. caparas.hmmn, ano nga mga pelikula nya..hmmn...ahh kuratong baleleng!lols! (walang kinalaman kay cory)sabi ko syo ayaw ko magcomment eh, feeling ko tuloy contributor na ako dito sa blog mo, hehehe..efa ha! :p

The Scud said...

len > i used to like mar. medyo nabawasan respeto ko when he did what he did. i still think he is one of the better presidentiables. no no kay jamby and villar.

dong > im not hoping that much. may tendency na makalimot ang mga pinoy. amnesiac.

The Scud said...

duke > i guess pag nasa politics ka breeding is thrown out of the window. nagrarant na naman ako. nyahaha.

iya > that's the longest comment na nabasa ko in mg blog. record. ma-break mo pa kaya?
> ayaw ko patulan si jamby. she won't win anyway. nuisance candidate lang sya.
> isa pa yan si caparas. ginawa ba naman poor vs elite ang NA brouhaha. putik!