President Cory Aquino's wake at La Salle Greenhills

I just came from Makati, supposedly on my way home, when I received a text. Nico Martin forwarded a text from Paolo Rieza, my batchmate in NCPAG and IamNinoy-UPD head, asking if KAISA can volunteer for the wake of President Aquino in La Salle Green Hills. Without thinking, I immediately went down Ortigas, and walked to LSGH. I entered, and volunteered to do whatever work they needed done. It didn't matter that I was alone, or what they asked me to do, all I wanted was to help in any way I can.

It was solemn and very peaceful inside. The line from the gate to the gym came in a steady never ending stream of people, paying their last repects to an international icon of democracy.


Just a while ago, Francis Aquino-Dee, grandson of President Cory Aquino, wrote in his blog and addressed all those who have "offered and continue to offer their prayers and support for the late president Corazon C. Aquino, and the Aquino Family."

"The generosity each one of you has extended and continues to extend to our family has touched us more deeply than you may know. Words fail to express our gratitude for all of your support and patience. While my Lola was always and will always be a member of our family, we also realize that as a true public servant, she belongs to you just as much as she does to us. Thus, the pain that some of you might feel at her loss may equal or even surpass the pain we in the family feel now, which is why the patience you have extended our family for our privacy, is all the more appreciated. Now, as one people, let us mourn for the loss of a truly wonderful woman, but while we grieve, I pray that we may also be able to celebrate, celebrate the extraordinary life she lived and celebrate the peace she now feels as she finally joins our Father in Heaven.

The story of Cory Aquino is one that began long before her birth, and will no doubt continue long after her passing. It is the story of mankind's continuous struggle against the evils of poverty, violence, and oppression. Her life is but a chapter in this story, one about how a simple unassuming woman was able to battle these evils for as long as she could, but as a chapter allows a story to progress from start to finish, so did her life allow each one of us to progress towards her story's, our story's, happy ending."