thank you tita cory...

at a very young age of 11, all I could fathom from the assembly of a massive crowd and the downpour of yellow confetti and clattered gold ribbons in every post and barricade in edsa was that a celebration is being held… not until me and my sister was separated by the mammoth that was of the military’s tank…

i cried and screamed for my dete… it felt horrible… I thought I lost her.

the chanting of a lady’s name came from all my sides… it was a familiar name but its significance to my life, I didn’t realize… not until now… not until her passing.

pres. corazon aquino is a symbol of hope for the downtrodden people whose spirit has been beaten to shreds by a dictator… as the mighty marcos used fear and force to enforce governance, pres. aquino exemplified compassion, humility and sincerity in uniting a nation to march towards peace and democracy… and as a result, make whole once again the human dignity of the filipinos… and making us believe once again, that yes… as the famous words go, filipinos are worth fighting for… worth dying for.

i normally am not this serious when it comes to my pieces… but two or three days of tears, sympathy and empathy drove me to a more relevant writing…

kris’ was of raw emotion… any daughter or child at that would - given the loss of a protective, ever-valiant and unconditionally supportive mother… perhaps, even a son whose (one of his) major regret is to have grown detached from his mother may still cry a river when she finally succumbs to eternal peace…

the year 1986 was a remarkable one for witnessing how a divided country can be united for a single powerful cause through non-violent means in order to take back their pride, freedom and integrity… now I know.

people power.

two strong historical words that is tita cory’s legacy.

she influenced and motivated us to create history… an L mark that symbolizes hope and courage for people to claim their deserved future…

the power of the people was born from filipinos… filipinos who are romantic people and tends to color their stories with promises of love and romance, of sacrifices and hardship in the name of love, of relationships made beautiful by its devotion to eternal bliss…

people power was more than color… people power wasn’t mere drama… it was the epic of man’s salvation led by a widow whose strength is partialled by her trust in her fellow countrymen… her very sword, the love of a martyr… her hursband.

even in death, tita cory unites the philippines… even former arch enemies and political rivals have embraced modesty and learned to forgive… forget?… maybe not for now or at least not fully… but to forgive is always a noble virtue.

the Aquinos, despite their mourning, looked beyond their own demise.

the ideals of democracy, peace, women empowerment and religious piety are foremost in tita cory’s exceptional leadership… encouraging all to strive for the best to educate ourselves and to believe that we are a gem…

i never thought it will hit me this way… michael jackson’s death didn’t…. neither could I understand why some or most were shedding tears for someone they never even got close with… music is relevant to our hearts… but freedom and democracy is essential to living a life…

I had the privilege of meeting tita cory in person during my ‘game ka na ba?’ (the first) days… kris and I were really close… I was her ‘bavouisse’… and as a little piece of trivia, it was kris who influenced me to using 2 or more celfones…

we had a trip to pangasinan and said our prayers in manaoag church… and on our way back to manila, we stopped over their tarlac residence… tita cory treated us to hearty meal… and my only regret is that I never kept for myself a copy of our picture…

then again, like I always say, the best memories are kept in the head... valued in our hearts...

now, she radiates in her golden yellow aura… like unto a saint… tita cory is the mother of the filipinos… ‘ina ng bayan’ as I called her in our tribute…

I can’t explicate… I doubt I can even find the right words to describe the void… but oh yes… I feel we lost something… we lost somebody… I feel stripped naked in a manner of saying… unprotected… vulnerable… brittle… can you think of anybody else who comes close to a cory aquino?


cliché but tita cory was a beacon of light… and of course I never realized not until the first of august…

tita cory was an inspiration…

tita cory is an inspiration…

tita cory will remain to be an inspiration…

in our loss, let us keep her memories alive and the values she stood and sacrificed for…

and as noynoy said, death doesn’t have to be the end… it is a new beginning…

my and my sisters’ prayers are with you tita cory… may the gift of eternal peace be yours in the hands of our Creator… and eternal happiness with your beloved Ninoy…

thank you for the democracy…

thank you for the truth…

thank you for the ray of light…

thank you for the inspiration…