Farewell, Sir
Today, the Philippines bid goodbye to its former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. I am heartbroken. I was there on August 5, 2009 when millions of Filipinos paid their last respects to his mother Corazon Aquino, the 11th President of the Philippines who passed away on August 4, 2009.
I lived in Makati then and a couple of friends and I stood in wait along Magallanes Village to see her funeral hearse pass by. Just like any Filipino event, rather than being somber, the mood was triumphant and festive. Whole families where there. Little children on the shoulder of their dads waved yellow flaglets at others. We spoke to strangers about hope for the Philippines. I was particularly struck by one dad’s explanation about why he brought his young son there, “I want them to remember this day, this collective pride and grief.
I wish I could pay my respects to Pnoy too. He served our country well, he wasn’t perfect but he did us Filipinos proud. I pray that his death will be a call to action, that come 2021, we will elect a president who will serve our nation and die to his own vested interests. Bless us Lord, God bless the Philippines.
Life with Raymund and Valerie 