Ilonggos join nation in bidding farewell to Cory
Ilonggos joined the entire nation yesterday in bidding farewell to former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino.
As early as 8 a.m. most people already became glued to their television and radio sets for the full coverage of the funeral.
The archdiocese of Jaro provided a widescreen viewing of the television coverage for their employees as well as other guests and the public.
Although yesterday was a special non-working holiday, most people opted to stay at home to watch the coverage instead of going out to the malls.
Many people in downtown Iloilo City were also seen wearing yellow shirts or yellow ribbons. Even public and private vehicles had yellow ribbons attached on them. Also, yellow ribbons hang on several Catholic churches as well as other private offices.
Hotels as well as commercial establishments in the city were seen viewing the television coverage of Cory’s funeral.
Drivers of public utility jeepneys also took time to watch the funeral coverage in coffee shops and cafeterias.
Even policemen were also seen glued to television sets while on their post.
At 11 a.m. while the casket of former Pres. Aquino was brought out of the Manila Cathedral, a holy mass was celebrated at the St. Clement’s Church in Luna St. La Paz. The mass organized by students of University of the Philippines in the Visayas and West Visayas State University was attended by public officials as well as ordinary citizens who expressed respect and love to Aquino, who is considered an icon of democracy.
Local radio stations use as background in their marathon coverage the songs “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” and “Magkaisa” which became popular during the EDSA people power revolution in 1986 which catapulted Cory Aquino to become the first woman president of the country.
Feature stories on Cory were also aired by radio stations to bring back the significance of her role in bringing back democracy to the Philippines after two decades of dictatorship by the late former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos.
Meanwhile, in Manila tens of thousands took to the rain-soaked streets to join the funeral cortege from Manila Cathedral to the Manila Memorial Park.
With a national holiday called as part of 10 days of official mourning, police said 15,000 people surrounded her coffin as it left Manila Cathedral just before noon draped in the national flag.
Eight police officers in full dress uniform served as pallbearers, carrying the casket to a flat-bed truck festooned with yellow and white flowers.
“She made me proud again to be a Filipino,” said Father Catalino Arevalo, recalling Aquino’s bloodless triumph against the 20-year dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, three years after her husband’s assassination.
Men and women standing at least 10-deep on both sides of the road openly wept as the truck crawled through the swelling crowd for the 18-kilometer (11-mile) journey to the Manila Memorial Park.
A military helicopter flew low overhead, sprinkling the crowd with yellow confetti denoting the colour of Aquino’s “people power” revolt, while ships anchored on nearby Manila Bay blared their horns.
Several mourners broke through the security cordons to touch the hearse. Many shouted her name and threw flowers onto the truck where four members of the Armed Forces stood in silence on each corner of the coffin.
President Gloria Arroyo, whom Aquino had turned against over accusations of corruption in the Arroyo administration, made a brief pre-dawn visit to the cathedral to pay her last respects.
She shook hands with the former leader’s son, opposition Senator Benigno Aquino, and prayed briefly over the casket.
The family had rejected Mrs. Arroyo’s offer to hold a state funeral, reflecting the icy relationship between the only two Filipino women to have led the fractious and impoverished Southeast Asian nation of 90 million people.
On the other hand, two children of Marcos paid their respects on Tuesday and the late dictator’s flamboyant wife Imelda said a reconciliation between the families could prove a “miracle for the Philippines”.
Aquino died aged 76 at the weekend after a long battle with cancer. (with reports from ABS-CBN News)