09-08-05
Winston "Arf-Arf" Arpon
PMA '64
Cory Aquino, Goodbye II
*****
Following a four-day wake – in terms of the outpouring of grief and sympathy across the nation, unparalleled in Philippine history since that of another popular and beloved President, the late Ramon Magsaysay who died in 1957 – former Philippine President Maria Corazon Cojuanco Aquino was finally laid to rest at the family mausoleum at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque City, Philippines at 8:35 p.m., Wednesday, August 5, 2009.
Beside her husband, Senator Benigno “Ninoy,” Aquino, Cory Aquino now lies in state in a simple cement tomb in the mausoleum that according to reports have “no walls or gates…..made of ordinary off-white floor tiles,” in keeping with the desire of Cory Aquino. Ninoy also died in August, 26 years ago, 20 days to the day of his wife’s death.
ooOoo
In last week’s issue (“Cory Aquino, Goodbye”), WTW reader Cavalier Alexander “Smokey D’ Great/Blackjack” Carino ’69 pointed out – and correctly so – that the passing of the 11th President of the Philippines on August 1, 2009 was two days later than WTW’s publication date of July 29, 2009.
No, sir, we were not doing our own “Back to the Future” episode, as you felt.
But we would like to think that it was provident we were overtaken by the event. So, we shelved the WTW that was a work in progress then, in favor of an opportunity to say goodbye to Cory Aquino after she passed away last week; and once again this week, after her funeral.
ooOoo
Many Filipinos, including those on the PMA community in the Philippines and abroad whose postings on the Internet we have been privileged to read, have written of their love for their “Tita Cory.”
This one, to our mind, is written out of respect for the fallen President:
“Now I can concede defeat, for the right reasons. I do not claim to be one, but following the lofty tradition of warriors, I mourn the passing of a great adversary.”
ooOoo
Coming from someone who, unlike us, was more than a mere bystander before, during and after EDSA, and more importantly, from someone who, to the best of our knowledge, reaped no personal benefit from his involvement then or now, this two-liner was certainly an eye-opener.
ooOoo
For winning this one “warrior” over to her side, no matter how late it may seem, Cory Aquino can claim this as another victory. We think she is smiling in her grave, knowing that in addition to the “L” sign that she and her followers made famous, she can, with even greater confidence, flash a “V” sign as well.
OOOOO
@arf-arf ‘64
wtw 09-31
makati, philippines
http://blog.djlf.org/