Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

LOS ANGELES – During a concelebrated mass held at the St. Basil’s Cathedral on Tuesday evening, the Filipino-American community paid its respects for former President Corazon C. Aquino, a symbol of the Filipinos’ crusade for freedom and democracy.

"Allow me to greet you with the most memorable way that former President Corazon Aquino had greeted her countrymen," declared Bishop Oscar Solis, who celebrated a mass in Mrs. Aquino’s memory with about thirty Catholic priests that included "healing priest" Fr. Fernando Suarez. Flashing the trademark Laban "L" sign, Bishop Solis said, "The L stands for "Laban" (fight), struggle for democracyand freedom. The L stands for love, love for her country and love for the Filipino people. L stands for loss of democracy, and L stands for light eternal."

Bishop Solis lauded Mrs. Aquino as an icon of Philippine democracy and freedom. He said that the memorial mass was a "beautiful way of expressing our solidarity" with the ideals of the former Philippine president.

Mrs. Corazon Aquino symbolizes the Filipino nation’s struggles to regain its democratic traditions that were lost during the twenty-year reign of strongman Ferdinand Marcos, who declared Martial Law in September 1972. After Sen. Benigno Aquino was assassinated on his return to the Philippines in August 1983 after years of exile in the United States, Mrs. Corazon emerged as the Philippines’ rallying figure. She provided moral leadership to the bloodless February 1986 EDSA "People’s Power" revolution that stopped the troops and the tanks that were arrayed against the peaceful rebels by the faltering government of President Marcos. A grateful nation catapulted Mrs. Aquino to the presidency and the successful revolution focused the world’s attention to the Philippine republic. For weeks the country was the cynosure of world praise and admiration.

"She was not a politician," recalls Andrea Aquino, a niece of Sen. Benigno Aquino who lives in Los Angeles and was one of the hundreds of Fil-Ams that filled St. Basil’s. "She didn’t like to be president, but I think she did a wonderful job and was a good role model for the Filipinos and the whole world," Aquino told Asian Journal. "It was a beautiful ceremony," Aquino said about the memorial mass. "I was touched by all the prayers. It was beautiful to see Filipinos remembering what she had done, continuing the fight that Ninoy Aquino had begun."