Cory Laid to Rest Amid Outpouring of Grief

Even the heavens wept as tens of thousands of Filipinos braved the rains to bid farewell to former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino who was laid to rest on Wednesday evening alongside her martyred husband Ninoy at the private Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque City.

The flag-draped casket of the woman widely regarded as the world’s icon of democracy was earlier placed on a flat-bed truck decorated with yellow and white flowers.

At around 11 a.m. the truck began crawling its way from the Manila Cathedral through the rain-soaked streets of Metro Manila, accompanied by at least 15,000 teary-eyed mourners chanting her name and flashing her famous “L” (Laban or fight) sign.

Tens of thousands more Filipinos crowded the streets to pay their last respects to the woman who rescued their country from the evils of dictatorship 23 years ago. Men and women wept openly as the funeral cortege crawled on its 18-kilometer, eight-hour journey to Mrs. Aquino’s final resting place. Police estimated the number of people who attended the funeral at more than 256,000.

A military helicopter flew low, sprinkling yellow confetti on the crowd of mourners while ships anchored on nearby Manila Bay sounded their horns.

Earlier, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo went straight to the cathedral at past 3 a.m. shortly after arriving from an official visit to the United States to pay her last respects to Mrs. Aquino, a former ally who turned against her amid accusations of vote fraud and massive corruption in her government

Arroyo shook hands with Mrs. Aquino’s son, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and prayed briefly over the casket.

For a few minutes, the cathedral, which had been bustling with activity, fell silent as all eyes were focused on Noynoy and Arroyo who were seated next to each other.

After chatting with Noynoy for a few minutes, Arroyo walked towards the casket, viewed the remains of Mrs. Aquino and left with her aides. She declined to talk to reporters.

Noynoy said despite his family’s political differences with Arroyo, he treated her in a “civil” manner. “I’m happy because I heeded my mother’s admonition for us to show good manners always,” he said.

Later in the morning during the invitation-only mass at the cathedral, Arroyo was conspicuously absent, although Vice President Noli de Castro and two past presidents — Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada – were among the top dignitaries in attendance.

The Aquino family had earlier rejected Arroyo’s offer to hold a state funeral.

Towards the end of the mass, Mrs. Aquino’s youngest daughter Kris made a tearful address, extolling the virtues of her mother and vowing to carry on the mission she left behind.

Kris thanked the Filipino people for their support and sympathy. “You have given our family honor beyond anything that we could hope to receive. For my family, the Filipinos are worth it,” she said. She was echoing her father’s famous words who said “the Filipino is worth dying for” shortly before he was gunned down on Aug. 21, 1983 upon his return from exile in the United States. That event sparked the People Power revolt that brought her mother to power three years later.

Kris lauded her mother a true champion of democracy who would not stand idly by if freedom was threatened by “excesses of power.”

Among the dignitaries who paid their last respects for the fallen Filipino leader was East Timor President and Nobel prize winner José Ramos Horta, who was the only head of state to attend the funeral.

Interviewed on television, Horta likened Mrs. Aquino to Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement, and Nelson Mandela, an anti-apartheid activist and the first President of South Africa to be elected in a fully democratic election.

“For me, there is no greater quality in a leader than being compassionate and being humble. Because only through compassion and humility, one can bridge the divide, resolve differences, build bridges of dialogue between communities, between warring factions. So I put Cory Aquino in the same status as some of the greatest people of the 20th Century,” Horta said.

He also said Mrs. Aquino’s death should serve as a reminder for all Filipinos to abandon violence and unite in peace.