This morning as I was watching the live telecast of the funeral of President Corazon, I already prepared a reflection for this occasion, but after seeing the people and tears and hearing the messages, the eulogies of the closest people to President Cory, I realized that my written article never came close to fathom the great and gracious heart this woman had. Listening to Fr. Arevalo in his voice clearly drawing back tears while he recounts and fond memories with Pres. Cory, also listening to Cris crying over the loss of her very loving mother, or listening to Mel, Pres. Cory’s security detail share the generosity and the humility this woman possessed, always giving importance even to the lowly of people, with the hinidi kita malilimutan song, I can’t help it but be moved into tears. I think most of us here, those who watched, those who felt the grief, shed tears of sorrow because we felt that feeling loss and that senses of absolute separation form a loved one- having in mind that we can never have another one like her. As if our own mothers or our own grandmothers has gone ahead. And i think that is one effect Cory has in all of us, that image of a mother, a mother to our nation. Painful as it is, but true, it is only during her death, her very recent death that I began to intentionally retrace my past lessons in Philippine history, reconnect that past to what is now and try to see the life of this gracious women in yellow through the eyes of a generation who never knew what it is like to regain freedom. And as part of this generation, the death of President Cory made me see not just what we have lost but what we have also gained. And this is Hope. This hope manifested by 3 realities of the President, even in her time of death is her legacy for me.
First, the adoration brought about by multitudes of people, rich and poor, powerful and powerless, came together in her wake and the outpouring of pasasalamat and love made me see that indeed it is possible to have a modern Filipino president that is loved, that is respected, that is honoured, that can inspire, that can move people contrary to what we have been accustomed to in our recent memory. She understood clearly that the highest pinnacle of democracy is the peaceful transition of power which she readily surrendered to her elected successor. She was allergic to power and remained a symbol of humility and a strong radiant moral force of democracy till the end of her days. It had been done before that we can have this kind of president and it can happen in the future. And we thank President Cory for making us believe that it is possible.
Second, The strong and unwavering faith defined her character and her leadership throughout her life. This is one great legacy she will leave to the Filipino people. She made it true that having the most powerful position does not mean that you have compromise your personal faith and values for the sake of expediency. From what I have seen in her last SONA in youtube, and to countless articles in the internet, she admitted that she made mistakes, but those where honest mistakes and she readily told the people about it. She was afraid to lie because of her faith, she was did not to surrender during the coup attempts because she knows that her commitment to God is to preserve democracy for the Filipino people. She stood as a great God fearing leader and because of her, we can believe again that a true measure of heroic leadership is the depth of faith one has for God manifested by her deeds.
Third, People Power, this extraordinary manifestation of democracy is the gift of the Filipino to the world and this was made possible by the leadership of President Cory. This event culminated a long boiling dissent against a dictatorship that has suppressed freedom for so many years but this culmination did not explode into an arms struggle, instead this culmination turned out to be a miracle, the first of its kind, that radical change is possible without blood and bullets. This made me reconnect to my present state. In my volunteer work in KKP, I have realized that I enjoy the freedom to critically think, the freedom to organize, the freedom to protest because of the courage and the sacrifice of this past generation. I believe more that idea of social change without violent struggle because it worked before and this was made true to countless other people power revolts around the world inspired by our very own. Now, our generation are the inheritors of that legacy of people power. Let us live the spirit of it by reclaiming our nation’s destiny once more in this upcoming elections and maybe through this, we can carry on the legacy of people to the next generation. And we thank President Cory for embracing a call she knew she never wanted but accepted it fully because of her love for freedom and the Filipino people.
Let her legacy remain in our hearts, that burning idea of integrity, faith, and sacrifice and may it bear good fruits for the future generations. Mabuhay ka Tita Cory!
