Today marks the 89th birth anniversary of the late icon, President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. President Cory would be 89 years old today if she were still alive. Our oldest living former president, President Fidel V. Ramos who succeeded her in office, who is now 93 years old is older by four years. She died at the age of 76 on August 1, 2009 after she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2008. Her family declined the government’s offer for a state funeral but her wake was held at the Manila Cathedral where a throng of people paid their last respects. Just like her martyred husband, President Cory’s flag-draped casket was borne on a flatbed truck enroute to her tomb during the funeral procession joined by hundreds of thousands of people.
An undetermined number of people lined up along the streets where the funeral march passed from Manila to Parañaque. She was buried at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque, next to her beloved husband, the former Sen. Ninoy Aquino. The dearly departed couple’s resting place, now joined by President Noynoy’s remains, may not be located in the Libingan ng Mga Bayani but it has become a shrine where every democratic-loving person can visit and reflect. Many of our genuine heroes and heroines were buried in unknown and unmarked graves but their greatness has not been forgotten by their countrymen. To paraphrase a writer, it is glory that lights the hero’s tomb, not the self-serving adulation of a hack.
President Cory was the first woman to be elected president of the Philippines. Her election was the toughest electoral battle waged against an incumbent president. When she ran against an authoritarian ruler who commanded all the resources of government and the fanatical support of the military, everyone regarded the presidential snap election held on February 7, 1986 as a walk in the park for President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Despite the short campaign period of 45 days from December 19, 1985 to February 5, 1986, President Cory covered the entire archipelago extensively despite her limited logistics. Her meeting de avance held in Rizal Park on the eve of the election saw a mammoth crowd of over a million people clad in yellow. The entire opposition rallied behind her with the erstwhile leading contender, Sen. Doy Laurel, giving way to her to unite all anti-Marcos elements.
Massive irregularities were committed despite the presence of international election observers and media led by US Sen. Richard Lugar and other prominent observers. The official poll body, the Comelec, declared Marcos the winner with over 1.5 million plurality votes over President Cory. On the other hand, NAMFREL, before its counting of votes was stopped, had President Cory leading by over half a million votes.
Lifting from the reports of journalist Tom Brokaw in his “NBC Nightly News”, Brokaw said: “The courage and the essential goodness of Corazon Aquino was so impressive in her battle against enormous odds. And the bravery of her followers—many of whom were killed as they pursued their belief in a true democracy… Through television cameras and newspapers, the whole world was watching. President Marcos could lie and cheat, but in the end he could not hide.” This was affirmed by the International Observer Delegation who alleged that the “election of February 7 was not conducted in a free and fair manner” largely due to the pressure and influence of President Marcos and his regime.
After further investigations, the international team of observers cited irregularities in the polls such as: “Vote-buying, intimidation, snatching of ballot boxes, tampered election returns and the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters”. Several people were killed in their valiant efforts to protect the integrity of the ballots during the snap elections. Prominent among them were Evelio Javier, Fernando Pastor, Sr., Francisco Jaurella, Jeremias de Jesus and many others who had displayed unflinching courage and heroism in the face of daunting risks. They sacrificed their lives to restore our democratic way of life.
President Cory led massive protests across the land. Boycott of businesses supportive of the corrupt and despotic administration ensued. Disgruntled elements of the military revolted against the Marcos rule, eventually leading to the Edsa Revolution that toppled the dictator from power.
In her speech before the joint session of US Congress in Washington, DC on September 18, 1986, President Cory lauded her people when she said: “You saw a nation, armed with courage and integrity, stand fast by democracy against threats and corruption. You saw women poll watchers break out in tears as armed goons crashed their polling places to steal the ballots, but just the same, they tied themselves to the ballot boxes.” Many Filipinos who did not witness and live the horrors of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino and the historic events that followed after August 21, 1983 until the People Power erupted on February 21 to 25, 1986, will have little regard for the fateful events that reshaped our country’s destiny. In her introduction to the “Reports of the Fact-Finding Board on the Assassination of Sen. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr.,” the late Letty Jimenez Magsanoc wrote: “When Sen. Benigno S. Aquino was shot and killed, even the furious rains of August conceded to the brightness of the day that was Sunday, August 21, 1983; the unspeakable treachery attending the darkest deed was without parallel in Philippine history. … Those of us who lived through the shock and grief of the assassination and the searing days after, know how and why it happened. But our children and generations of other Filipinos will have to be told. They have to be told because they must be forewarned “of what unchecked evil would be capable of doing.” We who know have the obligation to tell our young voters to inform them that we should not allow despots to rule our country and steal our democracy. Instead, they should elect leaders who will safeguard our freedom.
President Cory recalled that when she campaigned in slum areas or impoverished villages, people came to her with one cry: Democracy! “Not food, although they clearly needed it, but democracy. Not work, although they surely wanted it, but democracy. Not money, for they gave me what little they had for my campaign.”
After 21 years under a tyrant, people long for freedom most of all. In a speech delivered before the UN General Assembly on September 22, 1986, President Cory left this wise counsel for us to ponder: “I believe that no government can indefinitely resist a people united against it. It may have the guns, the goons and the gold, yet as we found in the Philippines, there is no government that can indefinitely resist a people determined to be free.” President Cory did not have an army, a well-oiled political machinery or awesome resources but she ousted a well-entrenched regime from power. She had shown us the way with her audacity and indomitable spirit. Let’s honor her today by living up to her legacy.