POLIBIZ
Brief encounter with Cory
The Aquino residence in Quezon City is located a few kilometers away from where I was residing then. So, I had the opportunity to be there on the wake of the late Senator Ninoy Aquino, husband of former Pres. Cory Aquino who recently came back to her Creator.
Earlier, on August 21, 1983 the whole nation was in shock when Ninoy was assassinated upon ascending at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport (MIA), now Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), after years of exile abroad to undergo a bypass operation due to heart ailment.
I saw Ninoy for the first time in an opened casket still wearing his dirty white safari suit tainted with dried blood. Though his swollen face was partly covered with blood yet he looked melancholic even in his death.
It only took me a few seconds viewing his remains to give way to other mourners already multiplying in hundreds behind my back. Ninoy’s image has remained as vivid in my memory until this very moment.
At arm’s length I saw Cory Aquino in black dress conversing with a woman whose beauty has mesmerized me no end. The latter looks familiar until I realized her true identity before I made my exit from the house. It was Tingting Cojuangco, the wife of her younger brother Peping Cojuangco.
Looking at Cory up close, she projected a deep silence of agony.
Honestly I was expecting a grieving housewife, embracing her husband’s cold body while yelling endless invectiveness against those responsible for Ninoy’s brutal slaying. But here she is, composed, dignified, not showing a trace of anger nor hatred — not against her husband’s murderers, not against the world, not even against God.
Surrounded with her siblings, relatives and family friends, Cory still managed to solicit a warmth unpretentious smile, shake hands with strangers who came to condole with her at the time she needed it most.
On my way out I saw a very young Kris Aquino in shirt, wearing a very thick pair of eyeglasses as she was accompanied by friends controlling the crowd which started to bloat by the hundreds in less than a matter of hour.
The following day Ninoy’s remains had to be transferred to Sto. Domingo Church, a much bigger and wider place to accommodate the crowd already thickening in kilometric length.
Sto. Domingo Church then became the center of indignation rallies against the dictatorial regime of Marcos from day-on until the funeral.
I guess I was one of the thousandth witnesses to this historic event which eventually led to Ninoy’s martyrdom. The mammoth crowd on the day of Ninoy’s funeral was unprecedented. It was comparable to that of the late Indira Gandhi, also a great political icon of India .
Both suffered the same fate. They became victims of political assassination because of their principles; risking their lives in preserving democracy in the process.
Since then, I became a regular die-hard supporter of Cory. Call it fanaticism for all I care.
“Cory, Cory, Cory,” becomes a mantra to those who believes in her.
Wherever she goes, I go — be in Makati, Quezon City or in Manila until the day of reckoning when she ran for presidency in 1986 snap elections. She was cheated, and the whole citizenry would never accept it.
“People Power” was born. God was her guidance. She was catapulted to presidency through a peaceful revolution. The rest was history.
A plain housewife that she was, some of her decisions caused chaotic results as she was still drooping in a strange world of politics. She maybe the wife of the most brilliant politician this country ever had, but her focus was more on her domestic obligations other than her husband’s. Politics is a complete stranger to her.
Undeniably, history will judge Cory justly for restoring democracy back to the Philippines. A legacy she had left for us to enjoy and to cherish — save it for the future generations.
I had the privilege of meeting Cory for the last time, months after the infamous Capitol Siege when she paid Gov. Niel D. Tupas a visit coming from a birthday celebration of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo on August 2, 2007.
She had an intimate private talk with Gov. Tupas, exchanging experiences of their political persecutions from their enemies,
I took pride of taking her photos with the governor and some provincial capitol employees for posterity; little did I know it would be her last.
As a photojournalist I was privileged to take photos of other surviving presidents, from Joseph Estrada to Fidel V. Ramos to incumbent Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Tita Cory, may your soul rest in peace.