What Cory, in death, gave us - Miriam Coronel Ferrer

WAYS OF SPECIES | MIRIAM CORONEL FERRER | 08/07/2009 12:36 AM

Corazon Cojuangco Aquino died 26 years after Ninoy was assassinated at the tarmac. Since the day of that fateful killing on 21 August 1983, one generation of Filipinos has been born innocent of what it meant for the nation to be under martial rule. A whole youthful generation grew up without first-hand knowledge of the struggle to restore the institutions taken away by one-man rule.But all these – the spontaneous outpouring on the streets, the symbolic yellow ribbons and confetti, the resurrection of the slogan “Di ka nag-iiisa!,” the flashing of the Laban sign, and the passionate singing of Bayan Ko --have been relived for them during Cory’s wake.

I know I missed a lot by being away from the country the past weeks, unable to express my sympathy, to be one among the hundreds of thousands who lined up to show respect, to feelthat kind of high amid the throng of people acting on their own accord, generating a power that can only come from a collective act of free will. In my book, these individual free wills, acting in unison, is what people power is all about.

All sorts of reasons led thousands of ordinary people to Cory’s wake. Of course, there was the usual human curiosity at work over the death of a famous person, whose public viewing was the one last chance for them whose lives are far detached from those of the “big people” to get up close. Perhaps others were there to see the grieving Kris Aquino and her fellow-show biz people who came to console. For them, it was a chance for some star-gazing and kilig.

But surely they must have picked up at least one scrap of history lesson as they waited for hours in the heat or rain for their turn to view the casket. Even for a brief moment, being there, would have occasioned for them a reflection on their lives, our leaders, our nation.

Indeed, there were a good number of people, especially among the middle-age, for whom Cory’s death became a moment for deep self-reflection. Many asked themselves, where was I in the 1980s? What was I doing? What were my life choices then and where am I know? This reaction I found in the person-on-the-street interviews and also in the various tributes and reminiscing written up by members of our intelligentsia. They drew their personal histories in that historical context of Cory’s widowhood, and now her death. In this manner, valiant Cory as opposition leader, troubled Cory as president, the 76-year old Cory as cancer victim, have become markers of their own personal histories.

They came to the wake feeling this fateful bond with her life-story. They brought their children and nephews and nieces, so that they too will feel that bond and remember. They bought yellow umbrellas and yellow shirts to express their affinity. In these souvenir items, they are able to store their own-life mementos.

There are many others who saw the demise of our democracy icon as a timely indictment of our current state of affairs. Just as Cory’s historic task was to restore the institutions usurped by dictatorship, her death in the context of an unscrupulous leadership highlights how, like Atlas carrying the world on his back uphill, we have slipped again and again. They remember best Cory’s last acts of political activism, notably, her opposition to the sitting president and support for those who stood up as witness against gross indiscretions. They grieved for Cory, and even more for the cancer of greed and impunity that have invaded the colons of our polity. As in Ninoy’s death, coming to the wake was an ardent statement against the current political leadership.

To the Filipino youth who were not yet born during the wakes, funerals, martsang bayan, and other forms of coming together of a willful citizenry in the 1970s and the 1980s, I fervently wish the outpouring they witnessed in Cory’s death has given them not only a better idea of what it means to stand up for democracy. I hope they learned that in death, it is the person who fought with principles (rightly or wrongly, as Cory was not right all the time in her decisions) and lived with humility who will be widely and genuinely celebrated.

Thank you, Cory. In dying, you reminded us that the basic values on which this nation can rebuild itself are faith, commitment and integrity.

E-mail: mcf178@yahoo.com

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