FOR one last time, Corazon Aquino returned to the scenes of her greatest political triumphs.

And as it was more than two decades ago, she drew multitudes who showered her with cheers, confetti and even tears in a huge outpouring of love and gratitude for the woman who led them in their fight to win back their freedom.

Ayala Avenue in Makati, where Aquino marched to defy a dictator in 1983, and Edsa (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue), where the People Power Revolution she inspired was born, turned into seas of yellow for one brief afternoon.

The tens of thousands that swarmed the two historic avenues Monday paid homage to Aquino as her flag-draped casket—on a flatbed truck bedecked with yellow and white blossoms—passed through en route to Manila Cathedral, where the last two days of the Aquino wake will be held before her funeral on Wednesday.

The streets fluttered with yellow ribbons and, as they did two decades ago, reverberated with chants of “Cory! Cory!”

The whole metropolis was “in a state of grace”, said Manila’s Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo.

Pabillo was overwhelmed by the public outburst of affection for the 76-year-old widow, who died after a battle with colon cancer on Saturday.

The country’s biggest television networks, GMA 7 and ABS-CBN, carried live telecasts of the procession. In contrast, the government TV NBN was running a different show—an episode of “Concert at the Park"—as Aquino’s casket arrived at the cathedral.

"It’s now our turn"

As the cortege drove out of La Salle Green Hills and rolled through Edsa, confetti rained down from buildings, balloons soared and yellow flags snapped in the wind.

“This is an important chapter in Philippine history. Like I told my students, ‘You will regret it if you do not take part,’” said history professor Mark David Aquino.

“The time of Ninoy is over. The time of Cory has passed. It’s our turn to change history and shape our own destiny,” said Aquino, a distant relation of the late president.

Police estimates of the crowds that lined the streets leading to Manila Cathedral ranged from 70,000 to 100,000.

Motorists honked their horns or rolled down their windows, waved and took pictures of the procession.

The crowds came from disparate backgrounds: bare-shirted squatters, businessmen in suits, doctors and nurses, government employees, metro aides, foreign tourists, college and high school students, grade school pupils, teachers, construction workers, nuns and housewives.

A challenge to Filipinos

Rain had threatened to mar the procession but, as if by providence, the skies cleared the moment the coffin was lifted on to the six-wheeler truck for the ride through the metropolis.

The truck, swathed in black cloth, was smothered with cattleyas, anthuriums and casablancas. In front was a white banner with the message in Filipino: “We love you, Cory.”

Along the route, other signs sprouted: “Thank you, Tita Cory” and “Thank you for your legacy of freedom.”

Before the motorcade, a Mass was celebrated at the La Salle Green Hills gymnasium, where Aquino had lain in state for two days.

In his homily, Bishop Florentino Cinense said: “The more we praise her, the more we reveal that we, too, desire to be like her … Let her life and virtues challenge us to strive to do even better.”

Bringing the past back

Many in the crowd along the streets brought along something yellow (Aquino’s battle colour), such as ribbons, umbrellas, towels and shirts.

What should have been a one-hour trip to the cathedral took five hours.

On Ayala, executives and employees in office towers showered the cortege with confetti, which rained down for minutes.

It brought back the past.

It was in the country’s financial centre where Aquino led some of the most stirring rallies against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos after her husband—opposition leader Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino Jr.—was assassinated on Aug 21, 1983, on his return from exile in the United States.

The protests helped rouse public indignation against Marcos and led to the 1986 uprising that hounded him out of Malacañang and into exile.

Goodbye to Cory

“We feel sad because who will defend us now that she’s gone? ... But with her death, the Edsa spirit returned and united us again,” Makati bank employee Araceli Franco, 42, said in Filipino.

“I hope this kind of unity will last, because Ninoy and Cory’s sacrifices will become futile if we don’t stand up as one people,” she added.

In the crowd was Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and members of the almost forgotten August Twenty One Movement, a protest group set up after the 1983 Aquino assassination.

The Makati leg of the procession took two hours from Ayala-Edsa to Ayala-Buendia.

Instead of the usual stock figures, a streetside neon screen of the Philippine Stock Exchange flashed Aquino’s favourite nickname with her portrait and a message: “Goodbye Cory and Thank You So Much Cory.”

Carrying on

On Ayala, the convoy stopped for about 15 minutes in front of the Ninoy monument at the corner of Paseo de Roxas as people joined in singing Bayan Ko—Cory Aquino’s battle song against Marcos—while flashing the Laban (fight) sign with their thumbs and forefingers, and praying Hail Marys.

“This is our last pasyal with Cory,” Margarita 'Tingting' Cojuangco, former Tarlac governor and wife of Cory Aquino’s brother Jose 'Peping' Cojuangco, told the Inquirer.

“She was a woman who believed in freedom and democracy. It’s up to us to carry on. Her work is unfinished because we’re still not united,” Tingting added.

Peping Cojuangco said: “It took her death to revive unity among the Filipinos.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all,” said Aquino’s actress-daughter Kris.

“Our hearts feel so wonderful because you are letting us feel that you loved my mom very much,” she said. “I feel so blessed to be a Filipino.”

Farewell from the sea

In Manila, students, city and private employees crowded three major thoroughfares to await the procession.

Ship horns from vessels docked at the North Harbor wailed for five minutes as the truck bearing Aquino’s remains passed her husband’s monument standing across from the historic Manila Hotel.

A student from Rafael Palma Elementary School waved a yellow ribbon and cried out in Filipino, “Tell Cory, I love you even if she is already in heaven.”

For Araullo High School social studies department head Celia Soriano, welcoming the procession was a way of imparting lessons to students.

“This is part of history... They should feel they are a part of history,” Soriano said.

Bringing back memories

News photographer Rafael Gozum, angling for a good shot of Aquino’s cortege, was injured when he fell from the roof of a parked broadcasting van.

Catholic prelates and civil society leaders who attended the wake at Manila Cathedral said they were overwhelmed by the public support for the democracy icon.

Former Senate President Franklin Drilon said the street gatherings “bring back memories” of the Edsa revolution.

“You can really feel the enthusiasm of the people. It’s a sign that the people are ready to fight for what they believe in,” Drilon said.

Bishop Pabillo said: “It shows that we can be united for a common cause … It can be a reminder and it can be a warning to those who wish ill of the country. There is a force to reckon with.”

During the liturgical rites, Bishop Socrates Villegas recounted how Sister Lucia of Portugal once talked to the late Jaime Cardinal Sin—who helped spark the 1986 uprising against Marcos—about Aquino.

Lucia asked Sin to give Aquino a rosary she had made and told the late Manila archbishop to give Aquino the message that she “is God’s gift to you people”.

Villegas said Sin replied: “But she is suffering.”

Lucia said: “Like all God’s gift, she will suffer.”

In the last days of her life and during her difficult presidency, Aquino suffered “for us,” fulfilling Lucia’s prophesy, Villegas said.

“But this morning we saw from La Salle to Intramuros the pain has ended. Alleluia. The battle is over, the victory is won,” Villegas said.

Public viewing at the cathedral started at about 5pm. The wake will last until Wednesday. (By DJ Yap, Jeannette Andrade, Kristine L. Alave/Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN, with reports from Julie M. Aurelio, Marlon Ramos)