Posted on 08/02/2009 7:38:38 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday hailed former Philippine president Corazon Aquino as a “woman of deep and unwavering faith” after her death from colon cancer.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church was "deeply saddened" by the death of Aquino, who led a movement to restore democracy to the country in 1986, the Vatican said.
Benedict praised the former leader of the Catholic nation for her “courageous commitment to the freedom of the Filipino people” and “her firm rejection of violence and intolerance”
Her efforts were a vital “contribution to the rebuilding of a just and cohesive political order in her beloved homeland,” the pope said in a telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
The pope sent his "heartfelt condolences" to Aquino's family and the country's authorities after her family announced early Saturday she had lost her battle with cancer.
“Cory” Aquino was propelled into the political spotlight in 1986, leading millions of Filipinos in protests against the corrupt regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
GMA NEWS :
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/168856/Aquino-family-overwhelmed
Aquino family ‘overwhelmed’ with outpouring of love for Cory
The family of former president Corazon Aquino is “overwhelmed” at the hundreds of thousands of mourners who showed up at the La Salle Greenhills for the wake of the country’s icon of people power, who passed away early Saturday after a long battle with colon cancer.
As of 3:30 p.m. Sunday, police estimated that about 35,000 people had queued up to view Mrs. Aquino’s remains since public viewing started at 7 a.m. The line from the La Salle Greenhills gymnasium stretched out to Ortigas avenue all the way to EDSA.
Jiggy Aquino Cruz, one of Mrs. Aquino’s grandchildren, said the family is “overwhelmed over the hundreds, if not thousands of Filipinos from various parts of the country are waiting for their turn to get a glimpse” of the former Philippine leader.
“Nagpapasalamat kami sa lahat ng pumunta. Nakapakarami ang nakapila sa kabila ng lahat,” he told GMANews.TV. Intermittent rain and strong winds did not deter the mourners, who had formed long queues snaking along Ortigas avenue.
“The family is very thankful. They didn’t expect this,” said Deedee Sityangco, former spokesperson of Mrs. Aquino and a close friend of the family.
The La Salle Greenhills administration has suspended elementary and high school classes on Monday to give way to the mourners.
“Everyone is further advised to take this opportunity as a teaching moment for our children through prayers, reflections and stories about Mrs. Aquino’s contribution to the restoration of Philippine democracy,” La Salle Greenhills President Bro. Felipe Belleza Jr. said.
Mrs. Aquino’s son Benigno Aquino III also told GMANews.TV: “It’s so inspiring and touching. In our grief, we are really consoled. We pray that they will continue the work that my parents started.”
Security was tight at the venue. Senior Supt. Carlos de Sagun, Mandaluyong police chief, said about 300 policemen were deployed around the school. A contingent from the Metro Manila Development Authority was also deployed to ensure public safety.
Inside La Salle, about 200 security personnel ensured the safety of the mourners, according to Joey Mendoza from the committee that organized the memorial services.
He said private individuals and corporations have donated food and water for those in the queue. “The Red Cross had also sent ambulances,” he said.
Emotional moment
The gymnasium was packed during the noon mass Sunday, which was officiated by CBCP president Angel Lagdameo. Many of the mass goers became emotional when the protest song “Bayan Ko” was sung at the end of the mass, with many people raising clenched fists or flashing the “Laban” sign popularized by Mrs. Aquino and her husband, opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.
The assassination of Mr. Aquino in 1983 had sparked a wave of protests, culminating in the 1986 EDSA people power revolt that toppled strongman Ferdinand Marcos and swept Mrs. Aquino to the presidency.
In a message read after the mass, Lagdameo said: “No couple in the Philippines has had an impact” in the country like the Aquinos.
He said Mrs. Aquino was the “symbol of reformation and transformation” of the country.
Most of the mourners reminisced about the contributions of Mrs. Aquino in restoring democracy to the country.
“I brought my daughter here so she can see Tita Cory. I’ll never forget how she touched our lives during the EDSA revolution,” said 46-year old businessman Percival Lubaton, who brought his nine-year old daughter Eliza.
On Monday, the remains of Mrs. Aquino will be brought to the Manila Cathedral, where she will lie in state until the funeral on Wednesday, according to an advisory from the Aquino family.
Farewell to President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, the country’s first woman leader, an exemplar of faith, and an advocate of democracy
Born in Tarlac province to parents Jose Cojuangco and Demetria Sumulong of Antipolo, Rizal, Corazon “Cory’’ Cojuangco was the fourth among six children. Her siblings were Pedro, Josephine Reyes, Teresita Lopa, Jose Jr., and Maria Paz Teopaco. She was sent to St. Scholastica’s College Manila and finished grade school as class valedictorian in 1943. In 1946, she studied high school for one year in Assumption Convent Manila. She was sent to the United States to study in Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia, the Notre Dame Convent School and the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York.
Cory studied liberal arts and graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, major in French Language and minor in Mathematics. She intended to become a math teacher and language interpreter.
When the young Corazon returned to the Philippines, she enrolled in the law school of Far Eastern University, studies that she gave up in 1954 when she married Benigno Servillano “Ninoy’’ Aquino Jr., the son of Benigno Q. Aquino, former Speaker of the Second Philippine Republic National Assembly from 1943 to 1944.
She dutifully performed the role of a supportive wife and caring mother to their children. When her husband was incarcerated at the start of Martial Law, she drew strength from prayer, attending daily mass and saying three rosaries a day.
When her husband decided to return to the Philippines after being exiled in the United States in 1983, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino knew the danger to her husband’s life but accepted his decision. After Ninoy was assassinated upon his return, she herself returned to the country and soon took an active role in bringing about unity among the elements of the opposition.
In several mobilizations that drew the participation of an erstwhile apathetic middle class, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino increasingly became a leading figure in the opposition and was subsequently tapped to run for President by a movement that generated a million signatures to convince her of the Filipino people’s determination to end the dictatorship. Although reluctant at first, she eventually was convinced following a ten-hour meditation session at a Catholic convent.
At the February 7, 1986, elections, the people continued to protest the subversion of their will, with Mrs. Aquino taking the lead in the protests. When the people power uprising succeeded, she was installed as President in the morning of February 25, 1986, at the Club Filipino in San Juan, Metro Manila.
Declared Time Magazine Woman of the Year in 1986, Mrs. Aquino spared no time in dismantling the institutions of dictatorship and setting into motion the framing of a democratic political order. The six-year administration of President Aquino saw the enactment of a new Philippine Constitution and several significant legal reforms, including a new agrarian reform law and a new local government code. President Aquino was clear about her mandate, distancing herself from any partisan affiliation and remaining true to the commitment to secure a peaceful and orderly transition of governmental administration in the 1992 elections.
After her term in office, former President Aquino went back to private life, leading a simple life that had been characteristic of her across the years. She devoted her time to forming and leading non-governmental organizations that provided direct assistance to the needy, such as the PinoyME Foundation, a non-profit organization that assisted microfinance institutions through the provision of loans; providing social welfare and scholarship assistance projects through the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation; and good governance advocacy through the EDSA People Power Commission and the People Power Movement.
She was likewise active in the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development. In her spare time, President Aquino painted, and was fond of giving her paintings as gifts to her close friends and acquaintances, including several world leaders, diplomats, and corporate executives.
As an advocate of democracy, President Aquino was easily drawn to movements that called for the protection of the democratic gains after EDSA 1986. She persistently spoke against the extension of constitutionally set term limits for the President, and impressed upon her successors the need to be sensitive to their accountabilities. President Aquino’s influence in Philippine politics remained and even expanded after her term.
President Aquino received numerous awards and citations among which are the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding from the Fulbright Association, joining past recipients such as Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela in 1996. In 1998, she was conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding.
Last year, she was named by the Europe-based A Different View as one of the 15 Champions of World Democracy, along with Abraham H. Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Lech Walesa, and Vaclav Havel. Last year, she was given the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize and the United Nations Development Fund for Women Noel Award for Political Leadership. She was conferred many honorary doctorates by universities in the Philippines, Asia, and the United States.
Her health deteriorated last March, 2008, as she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She, however, continued her advocacies and displayed the strength of her faith. When masses and prayers were being offered for her recovery, she thanked the many who prayed for her, but she also asked them to pray more profoundly for the others who may be suffering from the same illness and for all Filipinos who were experiencing difficulties.
For all that Corazon Aquino has done, for her family, for our beloved country, for the world, two things stand out – her persistent advocacy for democracy and her unwavering faith in the goodness of God, her source of strength amidst all the trials that she has encountered.
We extend our condolences and sympathies to the family of former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, children Maria Elena “Ballsy’’ A. Cruz, Victoria Eliza “Viel’’ A. Dee, Aurora Corazon “Pinky’’ A. Abellada, Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy’’ C. Aquino III, and Kristina Bernadette “Kris’’ A. Yap, grandchildren, and other relatives, and, together with them pray, for the eternal repose of her soul.
May she rest in peace.
Missing baptismal pall.
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