Words for President Aquino

It was a Tuesday afternoon when I made my own presence felt, among the thousands who gathered for the wake of the late President Corazon Aquino. I had left our Greenhome around lunchtime and just wanted to grab a quick lunch at the Jollibee outlet near Convergys, but the place was full. “Forget it,” I said to myself.

It was a slow bus ride to Manila. The rains made it more complicated. “I should have taken a taxi.” But I was in “tipid-mode.” Plus, I wanted to feel the community around me during these times of bereavement.

I was not able to enter the Cathedral itself. But I really opted not to queue as I just wanted to capture the emotion outside the Cathedral. It was by accident (or by fate?) that I strayed into the parking lot near the Manila Cathedral, 3pm, Tuesday afternoon.

Not known to many Filipinos near the Cathedral, there was a parking lot. Here, cars of relatives and friends found parking. Flowers were found there way near the gate. But most of all, hundreds of Filipinos wrote their thoughts to pay their respects to the late President Corazon Aquino.

In this parking lot, there was three large-format print out of Cory’s images. Besides these larger than life images, where white tarpaulins where Filipino can write their messages for their hero.

Here are some of the messages that expressed how Filipinos feel about the late president and what she had achieved for the country and Filipinos.

A couple of young volunteers, wearing black T-shirts and jeans, warned a few who tried to find space inside the actual image of President Aquino. Earlier, a few wrote on the face of the late president. How could they do that?
What would my own message be for the late president?

Words can't fully express how the presence and governance of President Aquino has influenced the lives and history of the Philippines. She is both an icon of democracy and an inspiration to Filipinos to pursue the greater good for our country. The challenge today is how to translate these outpouring of love and respect for the late president into specific action that results to change and fulfillment of the dreams that remains to be realized 23 years after the EDSA Revolution.