Paalam President Cory

I am watching the funeral procession for Corazon Aquino, the former president of the Philippines. They are alternating between shots of Makati, EDSA, and Manila Cathedral. The Cathedral, to which the procession has yet to arrive, is empty, in stark contrast to the thousands of people that line the streets of Makati. This is one of those events that I would've liked to be a personal witness at - you can feel the spirit of the people through the screen, even from half a world away.

I wasn't old enough to "know" Cory the way Filipino adults do - indeed, I was born during her administration - but I have much, much respect for her. For the non-Filipinos reading this (and the Filipinos who just need to revisit their histories), she was the first female president of the Philippines. Her term ran from 1986, when Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown by the People Power movement, to 1992, the year that I left for America (I was born in 1987, a year into her term). The dates are just for reference; while I may not play a part in Philippine history, hey, you're reading my blog. XD Anyway, she was renowned worldwide as an icon of democracy and truly loved in the Philippines as a mother of sorts for the country. She had immense humility, always considering herself a simple housewife who just wanted to further her dead husband's wishes for the country's freedom. Funnily enough, even with my Philippine birth and all her publicity in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, my first memory of Cory is from a Women's History Month presentation in elementary school. I think they chose her because she was an important female political figure, but in retrospect it's a lot more special because I grew up in Daly City and thus my school was about 80% Filipino. I feel honoured to know that such an important modern historical figure was one of us.

While I may have a tenuous connection to Cory, only knowing her through textbooks and news programs and her annoyingly ubiquitous and high-voiced daughter Kris I will always admire her. She did the best she could in the times that she had; she had to deal with seven coup attempts, a massive earthquake, a volcano going off, the deadliest typhoon in Philippine history and a vast deficit left by her predecessor, who spirited the money away in untouchable Swiss banks. Even though she couldn't completely pull the Philippines out of third world status (if it wasn't Third World by the time she was in office, it would get there soon enough anyway, to no fault of her own), she still did quite a bit for her country. For her work she got thirteen honorary degrees, armfuls of awards, was Time's 1986 (wo)Man of the Year, and just narrowly missed getting a Nobel Peace Prize. She was a brilliant orator and a courageous person. A devoted wife (seriously, running for president in your dead husband's memory) and good mother (no matter how annoying you find Kris), she was a world-class leader, and an inspiration to Filipino women everywhere.

Oh, and she had a degree in French. I would've liked to have talked with her, from the standpoint of both a sociologist and a Filipino woman. She would be full of fascinating stories and insights, I think, and our conversations would have been interesting both in the subject matter and the languages used. We would've been able to understand each other in four languages: Tagalog, English, French, and our regional dialect, Kapampangan.

... I would've been most interested in the French and Kapampangan.