Pedro Lumba, a retired Tarlac policeman, continued to walk until he finally reached the Manila Memorial Park. His companions had already left since they hardly had any sleep, and yet he hardly complained throughout the 25-kilometer march just to take a final glimpse of a beloved provincemate, former President Corazon Aquino, who died last weekend and was buried on Wednesday.
“It’s really sad I never had the opportunity to thank her when she was alive.” Now in his early 60s, Lumba said he lived a principled life even if the bureaucracy wasn’t a perfect system. “Nahihiya kasi ako dahil si Cory taga Tarlac, tapos hindi ko siya tutularan [I would have felt ashamed if I did not do so, because Cory is a provincemate],” he said.
Many people braved the rains, and the crowd that waited for hours just to be part of such a momentous event, and took to the streets to bid Mrs. Aquino goodbye, and thank her for what she had done to the country.
During the funeral march, I rode in a media coaster, manned by several young volunteers who were also continuously flashing the Laban sign as they joined the crowd in continuously cheering, “Cory! Cory!”
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