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Martsa-libing ni Cory Aquino: Buhay ang diwa ng paglaban
By Ilang-Ilang D. Quijano · August 6, 2009 ·
Kinikilala ng
mga kabataang aktibista na simbolo si Cory Aquino ng paglaban sa
diktadurya. (King Catoy)
Kinikilala ng mga kabataang aktibista na simbolo si Cory Aquino ng
paglaban sa diktadurya. (King Catoy)
“Tuloy, tuloy, tuloy ang laban!”
Ito ang mga katagang naging batian sa isa’t isa ng mga mamamayang dumagsa
sa mga kalsada mula Manila Cathedral patungong Manila Memorial Park noong
Agosto 5 para sa martsa-libing ng yumaong dating pangulong Corazon “Cory”
C. Aquino. Kasabay nito ang pagpapakita ng hugis letrang “L” ng mga daliri
para sa salitang “Laban.”
Hindi lamang sila nagpupugay sa isa sa pinaka-importanteng mga personahe
sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Hindi lamang nagluluksa, at nakikiramay sa
iniwang pamilya. Hindi rin lang nagpapasalamat sa maraming tinataguriang
“pamana” ni Cory sa bansa. Higit sa lahat, gaya noong martsa-libing ng
kanyang asawang si Ninoy Aquino noong 1983, daan-libong mamamayan ang
sumama para ipamalas ang kapasyahang lumaban.
Malinaw sa mga nakapinta o nakasulat sa mga plakard, t-shirt, banner, at
ribbon (na siyempre pa’t karamihan ay kulay dilaw) kung ano ang
nilalabanan ng mga taong nagsipagluksa: tiraniya, diktadurya, at
korupsiyon. Simbolo si Cory ng paglaban sa mga ito, mula noong una siyang
umusbong na pigura sa pagpapabagsak ng rehimeng Marcos hanggang sa maging
respetadong lider ng kilusang kontra-Arroyo bago magkasakit ng kanser.
Higit na kumilala sa iniwang laban ni Cory ang mga miyembro ng
progresibong mga organisasyon. Dumalo sa martsa-libing ang marami sa mga
nagtulak ng mga pagbabago sa lipunan bago pa man pinaslang si Ninoy, at
patuloy na nakita at nilabanan ang mga depekto sa tinataguriang “pormal na
demokrasya” na ibinalik ng pag-aalsang People Power I.
Kabilang ang mga progresibong organisasyon sa nagbigay-pugay sa
martsa-libing ni Cory. (King Catoy)
Kabilang ang mga progresibong organisasyon sa nagbigay-pugay sa
martsa-libing ni Cory. (King Catoy)
Dumalo sila para pagpugayan ang isang dating pangulo na sa maraming
aspekto, bukod-tangi sa ibang mga naupo sa poder. Dumalo sila para ituloy
ang laban ni Cory. Gaya ng—o marahil higit pa—sa marami, hangad nila ang
kalayaan at demokrasya, mga konseptong pinatunayan ng pagkamatay ni Cory
noong Agosto 1 na may kakayahan pang magbigkis ng bayan.
Parang ‘piyesta’
Pabugso-bugso man ang malakas na ulan at hangin, hindi nito napigilan ang
pagkapal ng bilang ng mga taong nag-abang sa Luneta Park sa Roxas Blvd.
para masulyapan si Cory sa huling pagkakataon. Grupo-grupo sila ng
magkapamilya, magkakaibigan, magkakaklase, magkakapitbahay, o magkakasama
sa isang organisasyon na dumating sa akala mo isang piyesta. Di nila
alintana ang malakas na ulan sa ilang oras na paghihintay sa pagdaan ng
prusesyon ni Cory. (King Catoy)
Di nila alintana ang malakas na ulan sa ilang oras na paghihintay sa
pagdaan ng prusesyon ni Cory. (King Catoy)
Habang naghihintay, nagsisisigaw ang isang matanda, bitbit ang naka-laminate
na lumang litrato ni Cory, nakabalot pa sa plastik para hindi mabasa ng
ulan. Tahimik naman na nakapuwesto sa harap ng monumento ni Jose Rizal ang
dalawang batang malinaw na hindi pa ipinapanganak noong nangyari ang
pag-aalsang People Power I. “Cory, simbolo ka ng malinis na pulitika” ang
nakasulat bitbit nilang dilaw na banner.
Noong una’y ikinagulat pa ng mga tao ang kalabog ng mga howitzer na
pinapaputok ng mga sundalo sa Quirino Grandstand para pagpugayan si Cory.
Pero di nagtagal, naging bahagi na rin ito ng ritmo ng ingay ng pananabik
ng madla.
Para kay Prop. Judy Taguiwalo, faculty regent ng University of the
Philippines-Diliman at lider-estudyante noong Batas Militar, isang
karangalan na makitang muli ang pagdagsa ng mga Pilipino sa kalsada para
sa martsa-libing ni Cory.
“Malaki ang pagkilala ko sa papel ni Cory para matuldukan ang diktadurang
Marcos,” sabi ni Taguiwalo, na isa sa mga detenidong pulitikal na binigyan
ng amnestiya at pinalaya ng dating pangulo.
“Kinikilala ko rin na pagkatapos ng termino niya, naging consistent siya
sa paglaban sa anumang klase ng diktadura, sa paghaba ng termino ng
sinumang opisyal, magmula pa sa panahon ni (dating pangulong Fidel) Ramos
hanggang sa ngayon. Ipinakita niyang hindi lang sa pamamagitan ng salita
kundi sa gawa na kaisa siya sa malawak na mamamayang Pilipino laban sa
korupsiyon, pandaraya, at panunumbalik ng batas militar,” sabi ni
Taguiwalo.
Pero hindi umano ibig sabihin nito na nakalimutan na niya ang naging papel
ni Cory sa Mendiola Massacre noong 1987. “Bahagi ako ng rali na iyon, kung
saan namatay ang 13 magsasaka. Pero sa kasalukuyang panahon, at sa kabuuan
ng buhay niya, mahalagang kilalanin ang patuloy na pagtindig niya, at sa
pagmartsa pa nga, kasama ng mga mamamayan,” aniya.
Pagkadaan ng mga labi ni Cory, sumunod sa prusesyon ang mga tao, na
sinalubong ng mas marami pa sa kahabaan ng Roxas Blvd. (King Catoy)
Pagkadaan ng mga labi ni Cory, sumunod sa prusesyon ang mga tao, na
sinalubong ng mas marami pa sa kahabaan ng Roxas Blvd. (King Catoy)
Marami sa mas nakababatang aktibista, sa kilusang kontra-Arroyo na nabuo
ang pagkilala kay Cory. “Napaka-simple niyang tao. Kahit sa rali, hindi mo
masasabing umaastang VIP (Very Important Person) dahil nakatayo, katabi
lang yung ibang mga tao, walang ere ng yabang kapag nakakasama mo sa mga
protesta,” sabi ni Renato Reyes Jr., pangkalahatang kalihim ng Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).
Pagdaan ng labi
Mga dilaw na lobo at confetti ang pinakawalan nang lumapit ang prosesyon
na mula sa Manila Cathedral. Madamdaming kinanta ng madla ang “Bayan Ko”
at “Lupang Hinirang.” At nang dumating ang trak na lulan ang mga labi ng
dating pangulo, tila lalong umalon ang noo’y dagat na ng mga braso at
bandilang nagwagayway, dinaig ng isang mahaba at kolektibong hiyaw ang
hampas at sipol ng malakas na hangin.
Sumunod sa prosesyon ang mga tao. Ang mga progresibo, nagmartsa sa kalsada
gaya ng lagi nilang ginagawa. Pero sa pagkakataong ito, walang nakaharang
na hanay na mga pulis. Ang mga ito’y nakasuot din ng dilaw na ribbon at
katulad nilang naroon para magpaalam sa dating pangulo.
Ang mga progresibo, hindi simpleng nagmamahal lang kay Cory. Nagmamahal
sila sa laban niya, na hindi nagtatapos, kundi umiigting pa nga sa ilalim
ng kasalukuyang rehimen. At sa madaramang diwa ng mga tao sa martsa-libing—nagluluksa,
nagpupugay, nagpapasalamat, pero higit sa lahat, lumalaban—lumilitaw na
hindi sila nag-iisa.
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VANTAGE POINT
TEARS LOST IN RAIN
By Luis V. Teodoro
KEEPING politics out of the five days of mourning after her death last
August 1st until her funeral last Wednesday seemed especially incongruous.
In the end the initially earnest efforts to keep
politics out had to yield to the obviously political message the very
presence of the throngs flooding the streets -- and some of the placards
they were holding up--were sending.
Few have remarked on it in recent days, but Corazon Aquino was not only
politically active until the time of her death, having opposed charter
change and added her voice to the clamor for Gloria
Macapagal- Arroyo to resign. She was also the first woman president of the
Philippines, which was itself a fact of far- ranging political
significance.
When she came to the presidency in 1986 the Philippines was a Catholic
country where women were supposed to know their place, and which for
decades had been dominated by testosterone-driven male politicians.
The Philippines is still Catholic and still feudal. But unlike in such
"advanced countries" as the United States, having a woman for president
has long ceased to be impossible, novel or outrageous in the Philippines.
For all her unpopularity, no one holds her gender against Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo, and few Filipinos today would refuse their vote to a woman for
being a woman. No, it's not for her gender that Senator Consuelo "Jamby"
Madrigal's quest for the presidency may prove futile.
Cory Aquino never said anything that could be construed as feminist. She
insisted in a 1986 interview with the US feminist magazine Ms. that, for
supposedly holding the household purse, women were more equal than men in
the Philippines. But during her six years in power her mettle was tested
far beyond that of any Philippine president before or since.
She came to the presidency with the treasury emptied by 14 years of
dictatorship and the country burdened by a $28 billion debt. A military
establishment whose support Ferdinand Marcos had kept by giving the
officer corps a taste of power and a thirst for it surrounded her and five
times tried to restore authoritarian rule via coup attempts that may have
been comic in their clumsiness, but nevertheless wreaked further damage on
the fragile economy. Millions-some estimates say 50 percent-lived in
abysmal, grinding poverty, most of them condemned to that state by the
antiquated land tenancy system that ruled the countryside.
Cory Aquino has been criticized for not declaring and implementing a land
reform program that would have dismantled that system. If she had used her
law-making powers in 1986 before Congress convened to abolish tenancy,
analysts point out that she could have pushed the country into the
prosperity most of its neighbors now enjoy. But that would have required a
vision beyond, or at least different from hers, which for the most part
was focused on the making of a new Constitution, the holding of free
elections, the convening of Congress-the restoration, in short, of the
institutions of liberal democracy Marcos had gutted.
Cory Aquino had promised no more than that, and she made good on it by
releasing political prisoners, and in the next six years, by defending the
democracy she was restoring against the remnants of authoritarian rule in
the military and the political class that tried to unseat her.
Early on she presented to the people, who ratified it overwhelmingly,
one of the world's most liberal constitutions, which among other features
enhanced the protection of press freedom, free expression, and free
assembly. Its other provisions-the limitations on foreign media and land
ownership, for example-she may not have agreed with. But apparently she
did not insist on her opinions, given the survival of those provisions in
the present charter. In a major concession to
democratic discourse she had even appointed former Marcos officials such
as former Labor Minister Blas Ople to the Constitutional Commission she
created that drafted what's now known as the People Power Constitution.
It is that Constitution Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo and her henchmen in
Congress have been trying to dismantle for the last five years. It is that
Constitution whose liberal and progressive provisions,
particularly the Bill of Rights, and those that make the declaration of
martial law subject to judicial and congressional review, that need to be
defended and even strengthened against the self-serving attempts of Arroyo
and company to hang on to power beyond 2010.
Yielding to cries of "Tuloy and laban" (the fight continues), last
Wednesday Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III pledged to resume the fight
once their period of mourning ends, even as his sister Kris alluded to the
need for Ninoy and Cory Aquino's children to take up their parents'
advocacies.
Those advocacies certainly include the defense of Cory Aquino's and EDSA
1's most lasting legacy, the 1987 Constitution, resisting tyranny and
authoritarian rule, and opposing the Arroyo camp's plot to keep itself in
power. These advocacies were the subtext, eventually exploding into the
text, of the vast outpouring of grief and defiance that through typhoon
winds and rains swept not only Manila but also the other towns and cities
of this archipelago.
Those advocacies need not and should not end there. The Marcos
dictatorship was a throwback to colonial times. It was an offense against
history, a deviation from the country's march towards freedom and
authentic democracy. History chose Cory Aquino to lead the battle to bring
the country back to that path. It's a path that many expected would lead
to land reform, an industrialized Philippines, a society of justice and
peace-the social revolution that has eluded
this country and its people for over a hundred years.
Impossible for that goal to have been achieved during Cory Aquino's watch,
given the tasks she had assigned herself, and the challenges she had to
face. It now needs the living to work towards that goal: to see to it that
the tears the long suffering people of this country have been shedding, in
the last few days as in decades past, will be more than tears lost in
rain.--###
Comments and other columns:
www.luisteodoro.com
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One More Time for Cory: Filipinos Take a Glimpse, Feel the Pulse of
People Power
PUBLISHED ON August 7, 2009 AT
9:12 AM
www.bulatlat.com
Behind the massive outpouring of mourners for Cory Aquino and the reliving
of People Power is the fervent desire among Filipinos to have “that good
feeling again.”
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — For the sheer volume of mourners who went out of their way to pay
their last respects to Cory; for her funeral march replete with historical
déjà vu from Ninoy to Edsa; for the popular prayerful gatherings beginning
from the time she was at her deathbed up to her wake and funeral, which
had also thrown current President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a
comparatively worse light; and for the future challenge of “keeping the
spirit of People Power alive” as many mourners wished to do, Cory Aquino’s
funeral appears destined to be talked about for a very long time.
The day Cory was buried had been declared a non-working holiday. Yellow
ribbons adorned vehicles, gates, windows and trees. Radios and trains
played songs associated with her, Ninoy and Edsa, songs such as “Tie a
Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree,” “Magkaisa (Unite),” “Handog ng
Pilipino (Filipinos’ Offering)” and “Bayan Ko,” the song that likens the
Philippine nation to a caged bird desiring freedom. The latter was
performed to great acclaim by Lea Salonga at the funeral mass for Cory.
“Cory reawakened the spirit of Edsa People Power,” said her former Cabinet
members. Indeed, it was raining confetti once again. Filipinos went out on
the streets with what they could afford as send-off for Cory. They wielded
makeshift streamers and placards from used sackcloth or cardboard,
glistening tarpaulins, balloons, pigeons, even Cory-Doy stickers from the
‘80s. “Volunteerism is back,” observed Twitterers and texters among
marching mourners.
In varied versions, reports repeated: “We Pinoys remembered how it had
been from 1983 to 1986, when we united to oust an overstaying brutal,
corrupt and isolated dictator. We are proud of having done that. It was a
period when we stood proud of being Filipinos.”
For giving a chance to relive all that, on top of having symbolized the
struggle for democracy in the first Filipino People Power, Cory was, once
again, profusely thanked.
Arroyo Conspicuously Absent, Criticized
At the Manila Cathedral thousands attended the early morning funeral Mass
for Cory. These included her immediate relatives, friends, supporters,
Church people, politicians, students, members of progressive
organizations, participants of past People Power uprisings and their
families and many spontaneous mourners plus ambulant vendors and small
entrepreneurs. Showbiz celebrities and singers also arrived and caused
some star-struck cheering in between chanting.
Despite intermittent rain, Cory mourners formed an umbrella-covered human
chain outside of the cathedral. This human chain extended from Manila
Cathedral to the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque where she would be
buried beside martyred husband Ninoy Aquino.
Her cortege passed by streets lined by thick human chains chanting “Cory,
Cory, Cory!” Some later joined the funeral procession on foot, on bike or
motorcycle.
The trip that should have taken just an hour or two lasted almost eight
hours. By then, the National Capital Region police, proving yet again that
it has difficulty counting huge crowds, estimated that the mourners
numbered only 300,000. Radio commentators cackled in disbelief.
Most of the 2010 presidential aspirants attended the Mass at the Manila
Cathedral. Former presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph Estrada were also
there, as were the scions of deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Conspicuously absent was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who got flak
from Kris Aquino for having pulled out the presidential security guards
detailed with Cory while she lay dying in the hospital. An activist
remarked that Arroyo has met her match: another presidential brat, but
kinder, more popular and bankable.
Even if Arroyo had sneered during her ninth State of the Nation Address
that she didn’t care for popularity, she was forced to apologize and
excuse the pullout as a mere “recall.” She also had to visit Cory’s wake
at 3 a.m., “like a thief in the night,” commented a radio reporter from
DWIZ. Arroyo left the wake after staying for just seven minutes.
But more than the issue of “recalling” presidential guards, Cory mourners
have consistently disparaged Arroyo’s leadership. For every outpouring of
thanks and praises for Cory Aquino, there seemed to be a reciprocal
criticism for Arroyo.
“That seems to be the general atmosphere,” said Luisa Magpayo, one of the
ushers from the church during Cory’s wake at the Manila Cathedral. She
wished that people would just pray for those who are being condemned.
“Pray for your enemies,” she prayed.
“Cory didn’t lie, didn’t cling to power. She treated people with respect
and consideration. She was simple and humble. She had integrity. She
didn’t steal,” were just some of the praises lavished on Cory. Its
inverse, meanwhile, were explicitly or implicitly heaped on Arroyo.
“Not even half of this crowd will likely brave the rain to mourn the
present president (when her time comes),” said Adriano Lotoc, 44, a crane
operator who went to the Manila Cathedral with relatives, including a
five-year old daughter on his shoulder. He attributed the blockbuster
turnout to Cory’s religiosity. “She was God-fearing.”
Princess, Tintin, Jhomee, Kevin and Ven, teenage dorm-mates studying at
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Mapua, Lyceum and Colegio de San Juan de
Letran, told Bulatlat they went to the funeral because Cory had done a lot
of good things for the country.
“We got carried away by this,” they explained, gesturing toward the
crowded, confetti-littered patio of the cathedral. One of them chirped
though that Piolo Pascual singing at the mass had also exerted a strong
pull. As for Arroyo, they doubted she could get the same funeral honors
when her time comes. “We hear mostly negative things about her from our
parents.”
Laban Signs Again
Along with reliving the proud moments of Edsa came the flashing of the L
sign. For Cory and the people, said activist Tonyo Cruz, it still means
“Laban (Fight).” But for Arroyo, it means “Loser.” To which other marching
activists added: It could also mean “Liar,” or hopefully, “Layas (Go
away).”
“Ipaglaban ang Edsa, tapusin si Gloria! (Fight for Edsa, Finish off
Gloria!),” screamed a neatly written yellow streamer along the way of
Cory’s cortege.
“When Cory’s term ended, she did not seek to extend her stay in Malacanang,”
said Consolacion Paje, 53, a housewife from Payatas, Quezon City. “That’s
what makes her different from Gloria,” Paje said. “Cory was honest, she
had integrity,” she added. “She helped people without having to do it in
front of the camera, unlike Gloria.”
Paje waited for the cortege at the Rizal Park, along with friends from
Payatas. One of them, Angelita Montenola, 43, also a housewife, said
Arroyo and the Filipino people “have much to learn” from Aquino. “If we
can only be half as good and half as honest, our country would prosper.”
Not just those who had been aware in the ‘80s had turned up at the
funeral. Jen Tuazon, 24, public information writer with the Supreme Court,
told Bulatlat that since she was barely a year old in 1986, she went to
Cory’s funeral to get a feel of how it must have been in Edsa at the time.
To get a glimpse and feel the pulse of People Power.
“It’s also my way of saying sorry because we didn’t live up to the promise
of Edsa,” Jen said.
Indeed, mourners and social networks point to similarities between the
last years of Marcos’ reign and that of Arroyo, and between moods of the
nation when Ninoy was buried in 1983 and Cory this week.
“As in the final years of Marcos, people are deeply frustrated with
today’s government. There are unresolved issues, intensifying crises. No
amount of government propaganda could assure the Filipinos that we are all
right,” noted Bic-Bic Chua, 42, a participant of past Edsa People Power
uprisings.
When two million marched to bring Ninoy to his final resting place in
1983, Marcos had been adamant against stepping down. But in 1986, after
years of protests, he was finally ousted by People Power. “We now have a
president who seems to be just as intensely attached to her position,”
said Bic-Bic.
Will it require another People Power to oust this one?
In paying tribute to Cory, Jen Tuazon said she was also, in a way, making
a promise to “try to do better to preserve democracy.” Even Kris Aquino,
Cory’s outspoken and famous showbiz daughter, vowed in her tearful speech
to continue with her brother Noynoy what her parents had begun fighting
for.
“People have a sense of history,” said Bic-Bic. Behind the massive
outpouring of mourners and reliving of People Power is the Filipinos
fervent desire to have “that good feeling again.” (Bulatlat.com)
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