IT is always hard to write about someone’s passing, as one would have to start to reminisce about the past. It’s always painful, scattered with fond memories and a reflection of how that person has made an impact in our lives.
But Corazon Cojuangco Aquino was no ordinary person. She was the first woman president of the Philippines. Before her, Filipino leaders were mostly men. She broke this stereotype and became a role model for women empowerment. But to the Filipinos, she was a mother and the icon of democracy to a once oppressed nation.
For those who grew up in the eighties, a person may ask where you were when People Power happened. Many have seen the Philippines’ transformation from being a country run by a dictatorship, to a nation that holds freedom with high regard. The road to democracy was never easy during Cory Aquino’s reign. Seven coup attempts, power blackouts, salvaging and changing whatever was destroyed and left by Marcos. Although some may think that the Philippines should have been in a better situation during and after her presidency, it would be unrealistic to expect that Cory Aquino could have done more.
On a personal note, I was not a Cory supporter. I was born in 1970, and knew only one president (Marcos) while I was growing up. With hardly any interests in politics, when People Power happened, I was sleeping in my room, oblivious to what was happening while my whole family was in EDSA. I was branded a Marcos loyalist by most of my peers, when in fact, I was happy to see him ousted. I am in fact, a firm believer of Cory Aquino’s ideals—that there is greatness in all of us and that we must put God in every decision you make.
As she is laid to rest, after the mourning has passed and when all of us start going on to our normal lives, the question is, will we ever remember her? Sometimes most of us tend to set aside important details of our past because we all think that the present and future is all that matters. This is true at some extent, but we seem to forget that it is our past—and what we have done—that makes us to who we are today.
What Cory Aquino brought to the Philippines and its people cannot be duplicated. Ultimately, her political legacy—how a simple housewife became a president of a nation—will always be a subject of discussion and debate, but most will agree that she was the perfect symbol of Filipino greatness. This is her legacy, what she is leaving us—that it only takes one person to start something. She was able to unite the Filipinos to come out and fight a dictatorship, made them believe that they deserve no less than true freedom. She was a true leader, trained by her democratic principles, her belief in the Filipino and unwavering faith in God. As her son, Sen. Noynoy Aquino said in his eulogy, "This was the loving Cory, who’s ready to do what is right despite the consequences and who has full faith in God. She believed in doing whatever we can and letting God do the rest."
( Published on July 6, 2009 in SF Magazine p. 2 )
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