CPI on the death of Corazon “Cory” Aquino

The Committee on Pilipino Issues (CPI) joins the world in mourning the passing of Corazon “Cory” Aquino.

So aptly named, we remember her beyond the grieving widow, but as the lionhearted heroine that answered the call of her time.

Never having spent a day in public office, she offered herself up to assume the mantle of her slain husband, to take on the task of providing the figurehead on which the Filipino people could pin their hopes on. It was a momentous task, to stay true to the spirit of an uprising that thrust her into power. One that would prove too difficult for a lesser person, a lesser president.

Although we should never forget her horrendous surrender to US interests, her haplessness in the face of her family’s plundering, her deplorable human rights record that suprassed the dictator’s and second only to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s,  let us remember that these things happened not because of her, but despite her. Let us not think that it was her only her failures that led to those things. It was a system bigger than herself, a history longer than her lifetime. In the end it will be up to us the people, not our presidents, to end it.

In her passing, the Filipino has lost an advocate, a friend. We have lost an honest person and a sincere politician. We have lost another brave citizen.

Let us remember her then, not by citing her failures, or sanctifying her to a status beyond what she deserves, but instead by living, striving as best we could to collectively assume the mantle of our movement.

Let us stand steadfast in the face of tyranny. And though her “Laban” might have differences from our own, it is still a “Laban” that affirms our dignity, our sovereignty, our potential as a people.

Mabuhay si Corazon Aquino!

Long live Corazon Aquino!

Mabuhay ang labang Pilipino!

Long live the Filipino struggle!