Thank you, Tita Cory
I join our countrymen and the world in mourning the passing of Tita Cory. I learned about her death while I was in Naga City. And when I came back last night after a grueling land trip to Manila, I and my son, Jimbo, did not waste any time in paying our last respect for her at La Salle Greenhills.
Many great things have been said about Tita Cory and she truly deserves all the accolade.
But I love Tita Cory because she made us believe that what it takes to be a great leader and human being is neither education nor experience nor brilliance, just plain and simple sincerity, honesty, integrity, modesty, faith and the fortitude to rise above difficult circumstances – qualities that are rare these days and you can hardly find in any of our present day leaders.
I love Tita Cory because she made sure that we, our children, and hopefully the next generation enjoy the blessings of freedom under a regime of democracy. They say that absolute power corrupts but Tita Cory did not succumb to the temptation, when it was very convenient for her to do so. Her presidency had its own share of weaknesses but no one can deny that she served us well by making sure that every Filipino enjoy the fruits of liberty.
And I love Tita Cory because she distinctly made me proud to be a Filipino. The phenomenal and world-acclaimed People Power of 1986 was bloodless and peaceful simply because Tita Cory was its icon, its inspiration, its moving spirit. And I now reminisce that part of my life circa 1983-1986 with great pleasure which I want my children to cherish and understand well.
I dare say that Ninoy’s life and death was actually meant by God to prepare Tita Cory to be our own Joan of Arc. God must be on our side for giving us Tita Cory.
“I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life”, Tita Cory once said. You did, Tita Cory.
“I hope that history will judge me as favorably as our people still regard me, because, as God is my witness, I honestly did the best I could. No more can be asked of any man”, Tita Cory said in her last SONA. We know you did, Tita Cory.
With your death, may the hopes of the Filipino people live again by tying that yellow ribbon ’round the old oak tree.
Thank you Tita Cory. Thank you. Farewell.
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Below is a song composed by my best friend, Corazon Guidote, arranged by Roy Del Valle, performed by Lisa Del Valle and photoshow assembled by Mike Reyes.
This is under CC-BY-NC-ND Philippine License 3.0
The Thank you, Tita Cory by www.soriano-ph.com, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Philippines License.
Nim Smyth:
I was very upset when I heard that Tita Cory passed away. It was very distressing to hear she is leaving so many people who loves her but I guess she is in a much better place than us. As a Filipino, I am so lucky and very fortunate to receive her services as a President. We adored her as she took on the job when asked her to do when Ninoy died. She did not complain nor hesitated but paved the way to live in a democratic country that we have forgotten for years. We used to live in fear and silence but because of her we found our strength and voice. She will be part of our history but I hope next generation wull not forgot what she continued to fight for. She’ll be sadly missed.
4 August 2009, 6:25 amfaith:
I mourn with her family and the rest of the Filipino people. After quite a while I was spurned to blog again. She redeemed every Filipino’s dignity by restoring democracy. Her greatest achievement as a political leader is the restoration of democracy and guarding it from any attack. I appreciate democracy more than ever. Studying (and teaching) constitutional law will be a lot different now.
Thanks for sharing this.
See you in school!
4 August 2009, 9:05 amJay Quintos:
“But I love Tita Cory because she made us believe that what it takes to be a great leader and human being is neither education nor experience, just plain and simple sincerity, honesty, integrity, modesty, faith and the fortitude to rise above difficult circumstances – qualities that are rare these days and you can hardly find in any of our present day leaders.”
Thank you for articulating the very reason why i was pouring down while watching her funeral rites. It’s very humbling as a law graduate to realize that education is good only if we will be faithful to our oath.
Some leaders “ang kapal” because they still have the guts to face the public after stealing from us. And yet they were the ones who are well educated and more experienced in politics.
6 August 2009, 10:06 pm