when ninoy died and his remains lay in bloodied state sa times street, pumila kami that night, my husband and i, to pay our respects, never mind that marcos might get mad or his military might be watching. we just had to pay homage to this man who won our respect when he, alone, suffered jail for seven years and seven months rather than bow to a dictator, and when he dared come home from exile because the filipino is worth dying for.
past the gate a couple of kids handed us a black ribbon each, a small strip with aspili. the patio too was small, the space enough only for the line of people snaking single-file around the coffin for a quick hello and goodbye, as quick as the pass-by cory’s coffin i’m now seeing on tv. it was also very quiet. the house was closed, there was no sign of any family or friends. except for two or three watchful guys standing by (security siguro) we, the people, were alone with ninoy. a starkly simple affair.
with cory, aba, sosyal! what a case-study of a scene. the huge venues and tv cameras, the people quietly filing by the coffin while family and friends sit around, move around, make chika nearby. how rare, masses and elite sharing the same space happily, clear divisions and all. the silent masa are just happy to be allowed a glimpse of cory one last time, never mind that they enter by a different gate, and are not treated like guests and offered seats. the elite are just happy that the masses are there too, imagine if they weren’t, what a snub, how embarrassing.
interesting, too, that gma the once lucky bitch is now the the odd woman out. indeed, she’s damned if she goes, damned if she doesn’t. pero dapat kaya niyang magpunta. just as dapat kaya ng mga aquino na tanggapin siya. of course kung type niyang magdrama, she could always do the unexpected, like, line up with the people, why not, pay her respects to cory first, before facing cory’s clan. i’m sure even kris would be lost for words (well, at least for a while ;).
of course it would mean gma counting on the people to be too awed by her pa-humble chutzpah to do anything but welcome her among their ranks. but what if the people remember only that cory had asked her to resign. what if they do an edsa instead, like, you know, stop her from getting any closer to cory, kapitbisig human-shieldeffect. lol. that would be the end of her. safer not to cross lines. safer to face kris.
i’ve a feeling her flight will be delayed. she made an unexpected detour to san francisco kuno.
really? haha, way to go ;)
Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t. Ah! the life of the damned.
i don’t think Pinoys will make kapit-bisig para hindi makalapit si gma but I would love that to happen. if gma has any decency left in her bones, she will not go. Sigurado, she will be heckled endlessly by the crowd. And how do you stop a mass that big, specially when you are in a Country country like Manila.
Yes,Angie, GMA is the odd woman out, after defying the call to step down by Cory, the icon of democracy and moral integrity in governance, it would be the height of hypocracy for GMA to pay respect from the stand point of protocol after withdrawing the security blanket for an ex-president and as an illegitimate head of state, I will Never consider as our president, was never entitled to the privileges of the presidency after so many scandals,scam and worst cheaters of all. GMA deserves to be ignored inspite of her good gesture.
Many expatriates,here have shed tears while viewing the TFC’s coverage of Cory’s wake as well as the outpouring of grief during the her transfer to the CAthedral. While, i did not have the privilege to be part of EDSA 1 and pay my homage to her relentless battle, I consider her a model saint who really represent what a good practicing Christian is and makes every Filipino proud of her here abroad.
i did not watch television for a whole week. baka maiyak lang ako sa mga nangyayari. rest in peace tita cory.
love,
nobe
http://www.deariago.com
http://www.iamnobe.wordpress.com
Nakikiramay ako sa pagpanaw ng yumaong Pangulong Cory Aquino. Subalit hanggang dun lang ang pakikiramay ko. Siya na sana ang naging uliran na pinuno na ina-asam-asam nating mga Pilipinao. Kailangan harapin natin o alamin natin ang katotohanan bilang mga mulat at matatalinong mga tao. Ang mapait na katotohanan na walang nagawa si Cory maliban sa maging instrumento ng mga makapangyarihang nagsasamantala hanggang sa oras na ito. Unang-una na dito ang mga kamag-anakan niya pati na ng simbahang katoliko.
hey nobe ;) nakakaiyak nga, but i wouldn’t have missed it for the world. except for media talking too much without saying anything new that we already hadn’t heard or seen for ourselves, there were a lot of gems. made clearer to me what cory was truly all about.
btw checked out your blog. nakakaaliw ;)
nesuhi ;) mulat naman ako sa shortcomings ng cory presidency. pero hindi totoong wala siyang nagawa “maliban sa maging instrumento…” ng mga makapangyarihan. masyado namang sweeping generalization yan. the problem is, we expected too much of her then… and huwag kalimutan ang all the trouble that the macho chauvinist military gave her (not to speak of the macho chauvinist pig of a columnist). what kaya if they had been supportive instead of their commander-in-chief from day 1. just that would have made a lot of difference. and what kaya if concerned citizens like you had not made bitaw right after edsa, what if they had insisted on continuing to dialogue with cory instead…
Gloria’s express train is the slowest in history. They have been saying that she cut short her stint in the U.S. but till now she has not come back. A powerless OFW here in my place can go home immediately if there is a need to go home fast.
I wonder why she did not go home immediately to mourn with her people.
Meanwhile, the people tasked to manage the affairs of this country in her absence were saying lots of non-sense even talking about protocols and the now famous ‘damn if you do and damn if you don’t.
And so, as she admitted in her ‘i am sorry’, this government of hers is mired not only with so many scandalous things but ‘lapse in judgments’ are also aplenty. lima sinko.
To the Aquino family, i believe that they should allow cory’s remains in malacanang not because gloria offered it but because malacanang belongs to the people and not to people that resides there. they should bear in mind that cory belongs to the people and so, she must be there too.
A wake also means a track left behind, as in a ship’s wake. That wake can remind us of for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for us.