Cory Aquino: A Builder of Institutions

She was our country's leader when I was in High School. 

I witnessed her rise from the shackles of grief and become a symbol of courage, freedom, and national unity from 1983-1986. I rejoiced when our people put her in power and cheered her on from the sidelines during the many attempts to unseat her from power.  I never doubted her ability to lead us Filipinos nor her sincerity and felt affirmed in my convictions when she decided to live out the desires of our constitution by not seeking an extension of her term. I felt her charisma firsthand when I first saw her in person in college during a dialogue with priests and religious at the Ateneo.  I since then listened and trusted her political inspirations more than any other national figure. 

I am grieving now that we lost her at this point of our nation's history but feeling grateful that Filipinos now particularly the youth will be granted a glimpse of how it is to become a true Filipino. Winnie Monsod called her today a "Builder of Institutions" and in my eyes it is a term that could be used when we remember her in the future, when we try to capture everything that she represents when we allot a page or two for her in our history books.  We have our constitution, she brought back the congress, the judiciary, the COMELEC, among others. More than this, she carved a standard into our very consciousness to which our presidents and ourselves, as Filipinos and as persons, will forever be measured.

Thank you for the gift of yourself.  Thank you for giving me another reason to be proud of my being Filipino.