Death of a Philippine Icon and a Lavish Dinner at Le Cirque
62Twelve days had now passed since the death of the Philippine Democracy Icon, President Corazon Aquino, but the Philippine nation is still mourning for the lost of their icon. By now, hundreds of articles have spread in the news, both local and international, and in the internet, mostly giving tribute to President Cory’s great accomplishment for restoring the democracy in the Philippines from the tyranny of a home-grown dictator, her rather simple life despite her family’s wealth and an immense faith in God.
President Aquino was fondly called Cory or Tita Cory (Tita for Aunt) by immediate relatives and ordinary Filipinos alike. She was born as Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco on January 25, 1933 from a wealthy Chinese-Mestizo family in Tarlac, a province in the north of Luzon that is about 300 km away from the capital, Manila. In 1954, she married Benigno Servillano “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., the son of a former Speaker of the National Assembly, now known as the Philippine House of Representatives. They bore five children: a son, Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III, who was elected as Senator in 2007 and four daughters, Maria Elena "Ballsy" A. Cruz, Aurora Corazon "Pinky" A. Abellada, Victoria Eliza "Viel" A. Dee, and a famous actress-TV host Kristina Bernadette “Kris Aquino” A. Yap.
When her late husband, Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was assassinated on August 21, 1983, upon his return to the Philippines from exile in the United States, with the strong conviction of continuing his lingering fight for freedom against Marcos tyranny, Cory stood brave. Three years later, she heeded the clamor of the people to continue Ninoy’s fight despite lack of prior political experience. Marcos called for a snap election. Cory became the central character in uniting the force of the opposition and run against Marcos in the 1986 Snap Presidential Election. Marcos was proclaimed the winner but reports of massive electoral fraud brought angry people to the streets. Hence, the birth of an uprising by the people behind Cory took place, which was eventually joined by the Marcos’ uniformed men. Thus, the fall of a dictator and Aquino was installed as the 11th President of the Philippines.
The historic event was called by many titles: People Power Revolution, EDSA People Power, and Bloodless People’s Revolution. The bravery of the Filipinos was recognized by many nations of the world and was even emulated by some. President Aquino was regarded as a Democracy Icon for standing up for the nation. She served the country for six years and freed many political prisoners. She brought democracy back to the Philippines and withstood several coup attempts, whose major participants have recently admitted they were regretful for what they did. She revised the Philippine Constitution in 1987 to disallow future presidents from lingering into the office in order not to succumb to power and corruption. Nearing the end of her term as President, many of her supporters then advised her to seek another term because she was not covered by the new laws of the constitution but she practiced what she preached. She stepped down from her Presidential seat and passed on the torch to her successor. Even when she was no longer in power, she was still vigilant and made sure that freedom is still enforced. For all of these things, her simplicity, humility, genuine care for Filipinos and the country, and her very strong faith in God, she was greatly remembered. The outpouring of love from her people was very evident during the nine long hours of her funeral procession in the streets of Metro Manila amidst bad weather, emulating the same number of crowd during Ninoy’s funeral. One of her grandsons amusingly twittered during the procession, “Lolo (grandpa) Ninoy and Lola (grandma) Cory are now having a contest in heaven about who has the most followers in their funeral procession.”
And now, twelve days after Mrs. Aquino’s passing, the Philippine nation has not fully recovered. It may take time. Several current and popular local issues are being linked to Cory’s death and will probably take some more weeks to die down.
One recent issue that is interesting to note here was the lavish dinner of the incumbent Philippine President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, at Le Cirque in New York, for which she received utmost criticisms by various sectors including the international Filipino community. It was reported in the New York Post that President Gloria and her entourage of mostly government officials, who were in the US for a state visit with President Barack Obama, feasted in one of the most expensive restaurants in New York City at a staggering amount of $20,000 (or 960,000 in Philippine Peso). A local mayor was even quoted saying that this one night spending of the President could have fed 3,000 families with three full square meals. Further disapproval rose due to the timing of the event, which took place while the Philippine is mourning the passing of its democracy icon. Mrs. Macapagal’s Press Secretary, Cerge Remonde, was quick to defend the President. He claimed that a local congressman was the one who paid for the dinner and further stating that not a single centavo from the people’s taxes was used. A reason that was neither welcomed nor accepted by many Filipinos, instead elicited more criticisms.
The Philippines is a nation of free spirited people who are not afraid to rally against an oppressive and abusive leader. But, it is also a nation of peace loving people who know how to give back to those who genuinely cared for the nation. President Aquino did her part in the Philippine history. It is now the Filipinos turn to make sure that her legacy lives on.
