MANILA: The spirit of Edsa is alive and well. That was very clear last Monday when tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Mandaluyong, Makati and Manila in an outpouring of love for President Corazon C. Aquino as her remains were taken from La Salle Green Hills to the Manila Cathedral on a flatbed truck smothered with yellow flowers. It was People Power all over again on Edsa (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) and Ayala Avenue, scene of Cory’s greatest triumphs against tyranny and corruption.

I was on the way from Manila to Makati that afternoon when I got caught up in the traffic spawned by the slow procession. People from all walks of life lined the streets of Metro Manila, standing five deep on the sidewalks and the flower boxes on the center islands to get a glimpse of the flag-draped casket of their beloved “Tita Cory”. Students in school uniforms left their classrooms to watch Cory’s procession pass by, office workers leaned out of windows or stood on rooftops, children hung from the branches of trees, squatters wiped tears from their faces, yellow confetti rained down from the windows of high-rise buildings, drivers honked their horns, people flashed the L sign and chanted “Cory, Cory, Cory!”, housewives mumbled prayers as the truck bearing her casket passed by. It was People Power again.

I am supposed to be a hardboiled journalist, but I couldn’t stop the tears as I saw the love pouring out of the hearts of Filipinos for their Tita Cory. I have cried at processions like this only twice in my life: During the visit of the Pope in Manila decades ago and now Cory’s trip to the cathedral.

I am sure the same scenes will be repeated at today’s funeral for Cory. Any potential tyrant and dictator should remember these scenes. The people will rise again if their freedom is threatened again. The spirit of Edsa and of Cory is alive in the hearts and minds of each of them. (By Neal Cruz/Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN)