MANILA - The Filipino nation paid tribute to former President Corazon Aquino on Wednesday with one priest describing the ex-president as "the only true queen the Filipino people had."
In his homily at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Fr. Catalino Arevalo, SJ, pointed out three attributes that made Aquino a great leader: her selflessness, her faith and her courage.
He said Aquino put love of country above self and family, which endeared her to the nation. He pointed out that Aquino was a woman of prayer who always turned to God whenever she faced trial or hardship. Finally, he said Aquino possessed courage and abiding loyalty.
"It was a strength that others could lean on. It was always there, it never wavered. It was never broken,' Arevalo said.
He said the greatest tribute given to Aquino were the thousands of Filipinos who lined up for hours, braving the elements, just to show their love for the mother of the nation.
"These words are for the mortals with bruised hearts who have lost the mother of the people....Perhaps a little less elegantly, the seminarian told me last Monday, she was the only true queen our people had ever had, and she was queen because we knew she truly held our hearts and in gentleness and greatness of her own," he said.
The funeral Mass for Aquino started at exactly 9 a.m. with Balanga Auxiliary Bishop Socrates Villegas, a close friend of the Aquinos, as the main celebrant.
Among those seen attending the Mass were Vice-President Noli de Castro, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta, former presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, Senators Panfilo Lacson, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Rodolfo Biazon, Alan Peter Cayetano and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando.
