It does not come often in one’s lifetime that we are given d opportunity to come across great & outstanding people & pay them respect in return.
August 1983 – I was fortunate enough after lining up for 3 hrs at d sto Domingo church to see ninoy aquino in his casket lying there in his blood-dried suit, his face bearing dirt & blood as make up.
Luneta w/ cory – in d company of hundreds of people, I applauded & chanted “cory, cory, cory”as cory aquino encouraged people to make a civil disobedience from d marcos govt.
EDSA 1986 – My officemates & I tuned in at d radio & responded to cardinal sin’s call to come to EDSA & protect camp crame from marcos soldiers who wanted to attack d other soldiers who deflected. From buendia ave, we walked through EDSA & upon reaching Ortigas, we all sat there as throngs of people came in. it was supposed to be a scary experience as we saw tanks coming in & helicopters flew from d sky. My officemates got anxious, worrying if cannons would bombard us all. But it turned out to be a festive experience – meeting strangers , seeing friendly faces, everybody smiling, everyone offering food to one another, everybody doing d “laban” sign. It was a beautiful experience, something I cherish up to this day.
August 2009 – I was feeling guilty as I watched TV& saw people lining up to see Tita Cory for d last time. So when chec told me she wanted to see Tita Cory at d mla cathedral, I did not hesitate to accompany her. We were at d intramuros premises around 9:30pm. D sight was discouraging as we walked through several streets making turns trying to find d last person in line. When we finally did, rains started to pour hard. We brought a big umbrella but it was no match to typhoon kiko. We were all soaking wet. D queue of people hardly move. We would advance 2 to 3 steps & then make a stop again. It went on for hours, all of us going through flooded streets, sometimes street lights flickering bringing total darkness. D crowd would give a big howl whenever we begin to move. U may wonder how we were able to get through these all. Just like in 1986, we met strangers from all social classes – working class, yuppies, senior citizens, all kinds. We witnessed how one male senior citizen was being teased by the younger people of how his yellow shirt might stain his body since he’s been drenched in d rain. We busied ourselves looking at d rooster up high in d electric wire as he bowed his head trying to sleep. We heard some commenting on getting envious of d rooster as he was about to sleep while we all have to make wild guesses if we’ll ever make it to see tita cory. In just a few hours, d rooster would be awake & we would still be there. Some were even kidding that we all file sick leave at SSS simultaneously & see how d government can cope w/ d mass sick leave. Personally, I allowed time to pass by as I watched d youth w/ their high tech gadgets, their digicams, their cellphones capturing d moment as they clicked in front of them & behind them to see the people lined up. Back in 1986, people were holding on to their radios to get updated of what’s happening. That was d only gadget back then. Silently, I felt happy that I’m a part of this again after 23 yrs. I’m happy to see the youth take part in this. Some of them may have just been born in 1986. so finally after 5 long hours, we were able to see tita cory for d last time. We weren’t allowed to stop & say a prayer so we were only able to walk past her coffin & in a matter of seconds, it’s all over.
In all of these, what’s impt for me is to be able to allow chec experience herself what d edsa or people power spirit was all about. It’s different to just learn about these thru tv documentaries, old newspapers, archives at d national library. If u can have d chance to take a front seat, why not. Don’t miss d chance of a lifetime.,I felt I have a duty to make chec be aware of this so she can pass this on to d generation after her. So next time we look at d color yellow, let’s put a deeper meaning into it. It’s not just d color of ur earwax. And when we look at cory aquino, hopefully we just don’t see the mother of kris aquino.
D long hours of waiting, d scare of leptospirosis in d flood that had our feet soaked, the A H1N1 virus that could have infected us all if only one of us had it as we were all so close to one another, as they say too close that we can have a face off from the one beside us, d possibility of getting d ordinary flu, d aching feet after standing for 5 hrs, the urge to go to the bathroom being wet from head to toe, d possible accident of falling into a manhole, d inconvenience of smelling wet shirts that dried up in one’s body only to be wet again – all of these sacrifices u may say is just too much to see tita cory in just a matter of seconds. But all of these are nothing compared to d sacrifices of d ordinary housewife who offered 26 yrs of her private life to continue d fight of ninoy. It’s all worth it.
Everyone did his share of sacrifice. What about d 4 honor guards who stood by pres cory in d truck that would bring her to mla memorial park. They stood there gallantly for almost 9 hrs unmoving – no meal, no drink, no timeout to go to d bathroom, not a chance to scratch an itch, being wet in d rain & getting dried again. Everyone did a heroic act.
How can we thank this extraordinary couple enough for their sacrifices for this country. Tita cory was a moral leader, conscientious citizen, loving mother.& a beautiful human being. How can I afford to just be an observer from a distance & not participate in giving her my final respects. And so in the passing of this great woman who introduced to me sacrifices as little heroic acts that made me discover somehow I can do things which I thought I wouldn’t be able to do, I can only say thank u so much for d hope & d inspiration u brought upon me & d Filipinos. I’m complete as a Filipino. I’ve seen ninoy & cory in my lifelime & gave them my final respects. THANK U, NINOY, THANK U, TITA CORY. If I can borrow a line from d APO’s composition, Handog ng pilipino sa mundo”, ANG SARAP PALANG MAGING PILIPINO!!!
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