Oplan Balikbayan

Hinintay... dumating.
"Eto na."

Agawan, unahan.
"Ako na! Ako na!"

Sabik, nagmadali.
"Pusila! Pusila!"

"Op!" ... Katahimikan...
"Ya" ... "Bang!!!"

Ayos na! Patay na!

Tita Cory: A hero, a saint

Cory was a hero. She was confronted with choices to do right and she chose to do them, not because of convenience, or vengeance, or power, but simply because they were right. She saw the depths by which power could be abused and yet she wielded it with humility and sincerity even while she was accused of reluctance. Beyond the presidency, she led more through the shining example of her own life. She needed no position in government – she happily and peacefully handed over power to a freely elected successor -- and yet she continued to exert “power and influence” mainly because she was looked up to and was respected by the people for her convictions, for her sincerity, for her abiding faith in the goodness of the Filipino.

More than being a hero, however, she was also a saint. Saints can do wrong, too, and are definitely not faultless but their lives always exemplify, in almost dramatic ways, the triumph of good against evil. Cory showed us that we are actually all called for holiness and that we can all be saints. Almost all through her life, she led a life of holiness, of sacrifices for the good of the many even at her and her own family’s expense. She walked with us, suffered with us, experienced our own pains and strived to show us how to rise above suffering if not to completely vanquish it -- all through the path of holiness, of deep and unwavering faith in God and of complete obedience to the Holy Mother Church. And for which she was rightly called the Joan of Arc of the Philippines. With her, we collectively realized we are all capable of making miracles – we witnessed the miracle of Edsa and with her death, we are now witnessing the unfolding of another miracle – the miracle of being united once more.

In light of past and especially recent events in our country, political as well as religious, we definitely need someone whose life exemplifies the kind of life that Cory lived. Present in our times, right in our midst, among sinners that make us all. We definitely need someone whose life-example can help us turn our ways from darkness to light, from sinfulness to holiness, from defeat to glory, from death to life.

I humbly submit therefore that moves to officially make Cory a national hero commence. More than that, I humbly submit that moves to request the Church to study the possible beatification of Cory be made, too.