Tita Cory as I used to call her, 'though she never knew me privately (lol!) was president from 1986 to 1992. I remember her on the 80's (i was young then, lol!) as a woman in yellow dress that led the "People Power" revolution that toppled dictator X- Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. I experienced joining some of their people power's rallys too! Sooo nostalgic!
According to source, Aquino's family has opted against a state funeral and plan to bury her beside Benigno after a private ceremony this coming Wednesday.
For me... she might not be the best Pinoy President but at least she tried her best. Many will agree to me that she didn't corrupt or cheat... right? She never even used her power to always be on top and led the country. I like her determination and I consider her a modest President... fair enough to be a good one. How I wish that the future Presidents of the Philippines will be some what like her. Everybody knows how Philippines is in desperate need of Presidents with moral leadership! lol!
Like all the Filipinos... I will surely miss you Tita Cory... RIP... I know you are happy now to be reunited with Tito Ninoy!
I am also showing my support to Tita Cory as our icon of democracy... by putting yellow ribbon to this post!
Here's a tribute to Tita Cory from TIMES.com:
People Power's Philippine Saint: Corazon Aquino
By Howard Chua-Eoan Saturday, Aug. 01, 2009
The arc of Corazon Aquino's life lent itself to maxims, but two hard-nosed ones seem particularly worth pointing out. First, political sainthood is a gift from heaven with a Cinderella deadline — once past midnight, you are a pumpkin. Second, personal virtues are never a guarantee of effective or successful governance. What was truly shocking about Aquino's tumultuous six-year term as President of the Philippines was that those maxims proved untrue. Midnight always threatened Aquino but never struck; and she was a good woman whose goodness alone, at the very end, was what proved enough, if only by an iota, to save her country.
The exact opposite was foretold by the husband whose murder she vowed to avenge and whose political legacy she promised to preserve. Anyone who succeeded Ferdinand Marcos, Benigno Aquino declared, would smell like horse manure six months after taking power. The residual effects of the dictatorship of Marcos and his wife Imelda, he said, could guarantee no success — only disaster, despair and failure.
But after a popular rebellion in 1986 overthrew Marcos and proclaimed her President in his stead, Benigno Aquino's widow lasted more than six months; indeed, she lasted her entire six-year term. Furthermore, she retained a whiff of sanctity even as her government rotted, even as Filipinos worked hard to prove George Orwell's aphorism that saints are guilty until proven innocent. As Aquino ruled, every month seemed to diminish the political miracle of her astonishing rise to power, but she survived. And her survival guaranteed the continuation of democracy in her homeland.
The Philippines is still a raucous political hothouse. And every now and then it seems to return to the brink. But the dire days of deadly coup plots are over. Corazon Aquino died a revered figure, after an excruciating struggle with colon cancer, in a hospital in the Philippines.
Corazon Cojuangco was born into one of the wealthiest families in the islands. Fated to be married off in one dynastic match or the other, she was courted by and fell in love with Benigno Aquino Jr., a brilliant and ambitious journalist turned politician whose own family was as illustrious though not quite as wealthy as her baronial clan. The marriage would help propel Benigno's career even as "Cory" was a cipher at his side, the high-born wife whose social ministrations at smoke-filled political sessions flattered her husband's supporters. Benigno's popularity soon challenged Ferdinand Marcos, who had been elected President in 1965. And so, when Marcos assumed dictatorial power in 1972, he threw his rival into jail. Corazon then became her husband's instrument, smuggling messages out of prison and raising funds for the opposition. But as long as he lived, she was merely an extension of Benigno Aquino.
All that changed on Aug. 21, 1983, when Benigno Aquino returned to the Philippines after three years of exile in the U.S. only to be shot dead even before he could set foot on the tarmac of Manila's international airport. Filipinos were outraged, and suspicion immediately fell on Marcos. At Benigno's funeral, mourners transformed Corazon into a symbol. (Read TIME's 1986 Woman of the Year cover story on Aquino.)
The devout and stoic Roman Catholic widow became the incarnation of a pious nation that had itself suffered silently through more than a decade of autocratic rule. Millions lined the funeral route and repeated her nickname as if saying the rosary: "Cory, Cory, Cory." If she had agreed to let the massive demonstrations of outrage pass in front of Malacañang Palace, said Vicente Paterno, a Marcos official who would later be her ally, "that could have toppled Marcos." But it would be nearly three years before she would learn to take advantage of her power. Instead, she concentrated on the fractious opposition, using her moral influence to help it choose a leader to oppose Marcos.
Filipinos saw her as that leader, but she declined the role until November 1985. It was then that a Marcos-controlled court acquitted the military men accused of killing Benigno. Marcos then decided to hold a snap presidential election to reaffirm his mandate.
Though hampered by the government's near monopoly of the media, the Aquino campaign attracted millions of fervent supporters, all decked out in yellow, the reluctant candidate's favorite color. And when Marcos cheated her of victory in the February 1986 vote, the outcry was tremendous — and his doom was sealed. Bearing witness to their political allegiance, the millions who crammed the streets to protect reformist soldiers who had mutinied against Marcos chanted the now familiar mantra: "Cory, Cory, Cory." Nuns armed only with rosaries knelt in front of tanks, stopping them in their tracks.
See TIME's Aquino covers.
No comments:
Post a Comment