Damned if she does, damned if she doesn't..

It must be very difficult for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo now. Being faced with the allegations that she pulled out the security detail of the very popular President Cory Aquino. Although she did proclaim a 10-day period of mourning, and declared the day of burial as a special holiday and even offered a state funeral, that doesn't seem to be enough for the family. For the most part, it is understandable for the family to get hurt over something like that. But other people outside of the family shouldn't make it a big issue debating it over national television, rehashing the topic on air, it does not help bring about a conciliatory air.

I doubt if it mattered to President Cory. She wants peace for our land, for everyone. Why do we as a people continue to fuel small fires of enmity? I have no affection for President GMA but there is indeed some truth to her SONA. She has never said that she will stay beyond her term. I maybe naive but i think that is the reason why her political enemies are nailing her to the cross. Why can't we believe her and wait until 2010 if she really wants to remain in power? In the meantime, allow her to do her work in peace. If she wants to go to the wake, let her be. Even if she gets snubbed, she's another strong woman. Anyway, it is between her and God. We are only human. I am not saying it as an excuse but a reminder of our reality. We do things that may have hurt others but it doesn't mean that we are completely heartless. I really don't think President GMA is evil. Here is another wife and mother who wants to pay her last respects to another wife and mother. They may differ in so many things, see differently in so many issues, but both are presidents, wives, mothers. President GMA can't help but make it personal when President Cory called on her to resign. The wound is still fresh. The Aquino's battle with the Marcoses is entirely a different matter. Time has passed, the Aquino had already a taste of power when they ended the power of the Marcoses. So in a way, they were even already. The conflict of the Aquino and the Arroyos is fairly recent, the wound is still fresh.

Not everyone could be saint but President Cory is close to being one according to testimonies about her. I do not doubt its truth. President GMA is not a saint, i do not know if she aspires to be one. She is feisty though, and that maybe the exact quality that her administration needs. Let her do what she wants to do. In the end, in the silence of her room, it is between her and God.

The Yellow Lady Passes and EDSA Stood Still

Here's some shots taken when President Cory Aquino's funeral passed by EDSA on her way towards the Manila Cathedral...

A tribute to a wife and a mother

I bought Pan de Sal early this morning when I saw on tv that President Cory Aquino passed away. I have been thinking these past few days of featuring a yellow ribbon on my blog as part of the “tie a yellow ribbon” campaign but we’re unable to do so. And so I’m doing it now.

I have never given it much thought until now, but President Cory Aquino is my Ideal wife and mother along with my birth mother and mother-in-law. She is special in a way because I never knew her personally, and yet her strength that helped her raise her 5 children singlehandedly when Ninoy could not be around, the strength that made her accept the Presidency even when she would rather be at the background, the strength of a wife who stood by her husband, that strength is worth emulating.
But more than everything, it must be her faith in God that is the source of her strength and the inspiration to live a principled life. And so I admire her for her faith. I admire her for remaining simple despite destiny granting her the grandest of political office, that of being president.

Her critics during her administration often mentioned her being a wife and a mother and inexperience alongside their criticism. But maybe it was exactly being a wife and a mother that made her a fitting transition president. And being a mother to the last of her breath, her admonition to her children is for them to take care of each other. It should do all of us good as a people to heed her advice.