It has been over a week since the body of President Cory was sent to its final destination. Needless to say, TV stations have ceased airing shows celebrating Cory's memory and have gone back to regular programming. It is apparent that, although the grief still remains, the period of mourning has begun to end and once again, we are left to ponder what will become of us now that another icon has passed away.
I was reading again Ms. Jessica Zafra's article and she hit it right on the head when she implied that we, meaning those under 35, those who were too young to actually be considered witnesses of EDSA and the Cory years, don't really know who Corazon Aquino was. And she's right. As I was watching the funeral procession, listening to all those farewell speeches, it finally dawned on me that I hardly knew the woman except as a relic of a bygone age.
It is useless to hide ignorance this time around nor is it productive to try to fake empathy. The truth is I don't know Cory and though I recognize her deeds, this recognition is absent of the emotions which have left many others disconsolate over her final departure. Furthermore, I believe this is also the same feeling that most of my generation also harbor.
If I had been born at least seven years earlier, this would have been a different matter. I would have had the opportunity to experience what it was like before and, at least, be a spectator to how this woman's courage and faith helped shape a nation's history. I would have had the opportunity to be immersed in the conflicts of those years, in the emotions and the drama of the decade, to be living under the Marcos' administration and Cory's. Surely, my knowledge of the era would surpass that of all the history textbooks I've read because much of my knowledge would be coming from the heart and not from the head.
But then again, it's useless to ponder on hypothetical situations and we, the younger generation, are left to ponder how this seeming ignorance of Cory's life and the era she represented plays itself out on our own quest for national consciousness.
Yes, it is unfortunate that our knowledge of Cory, the citizen, is deficient. I have to admit that the best way of truly knowing her is and will always be by living in the same era that she "lived", in those times when she best defined her legacy. Sadly, we were born too late and all we saw was a woman who, though still ever nationalistic and headstrong, continually failed to muster the necessary "People Power" to topple an increasingly corrupt presidency.
But, perhaps, our ignorance is also our blessing. Spared from knowing her weaknesses, her foibles, and her past, we are left with an artificial and blemish-free facade of her person: that of a larger-than-life symbol of purity and heroic leadership. Although we are resigned to knowing Cory only through the corrective lens of others, we are fortuitously left with a powerful symbol worthy of our emulation.
It is also perhaps another blessing that we are spared of the nostalgia surrounding Cory. Subsequently, we are spared the exercise of having to reminisce the past that Cory represented and having to think about where it all went wrong. Clearly, as far as we are concerned, there is no glorious post-EDSA , only a brilliant start blundering its way to a grim present.
It is here that Cory's memory best serves us. For us, Cory as a symbol represents a challenge, a challenge not to revert to a celebrated past but to actually exceed it. The mourning for Cory prompted a vivid repainting of better days, when government officials were honest, when the nation was full of hope for its future, when anything was possible because Cory was president.
To be honest, sickened by what we see now, it is no surprise that we also yearn for those days. Those are the days which we intend to relive and if Cory could do it, perhaps we can do better. Perhaps, when our time truly comes, we will find ourselves still clinging to the values this woman embodied and, by then, we will be more than ready to change the status quo.
Today, I watch my country slowly deteriorating, confident in the belief that its future is still with us. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking, "Maybe, we can do better than Cory".
Maybe then, we will do better than all those who preceded us.
I was reading again Ms. Jessica Zafra's article and she hit it right on the head when she implied that we, meaning those under 35, those who were too young to actually be considered witnesses of EDSA and the Cory years, don't really know who Corazon Aquino was. And she's right. As I was watching the funeral procession, listening to all those farewell speeches, it finally dawned on me that I hardly knew the woman except as a relic of a bygone age.
It is useless to hide ignorance this time around nor is it productive to try to fake empathy. The truth is I don't know Cory and though I recognize her deeds, this recognition is absent of the emotions which have left many others disconsolate over her final departure. Furthermore, I believe this is also the same feeling that most of my generation also harbor.
If I had been born at least seven years earlier, this would have been a different matter. I would have had the opportunity to experience what it was like before and, at least, be a spectator to how this woman's courage and faith helped shape a nation's history. I would have had the opportunity to be immersed in the conflicts of those years, in the emotions and the drama of the decade, to be living under the Marcos' administration and Cory's. Surely, my knowledge of the era would surpass that of all the history textbooks I've read because much of my knowledge would be coming from the heart and not from the head.
But then again, it's useless to ponder on hypothetical situations and we, the younger generation, are left to ponder how this seeming ignorance of Cory's life and the era she represented plays itself out on our own quest for national consciousness.
Yes, it is unfortunate that our knowledge of Cory, the citizen, is deficient. I have to admit that the best way of truly knowing her is and will always be by living in the same era that she "lived", in those times when she best defined her legacy. Sadly, we were born too late and all we saw was a woman who, though still ever nationalistic and headstrong, continually failed to muster the necessary "People Power" to topple an increasingly corrupt presidency.
But, perhaps, our ignorance is also our blessing. Spared from knowing her weaknesses, her foibles, and her past, we are left with an artificial and blemish-free facade of her person: that of a larger-than-life symbol of purity and heroic leadership. Although we are resigned to knowing Cory only through the corrective lens of others, we are fortuitously left with a powerful symbol worthy of our emulation.
It is also perhaps another blessing that we are spared of the nostalgia surrounding Cory. Subsequently, we are spared the exercise of having to reminisce the past that Cory represented and having to think about where it all went wrong. Clearly, as far as we are concerned, there is no glorious post-EDSA , only a brilliant start blundering its way to a grim present.
It is here that Cory's memory best serves us. For us, Cory as a symbol represents a challenge, a challenge not to revert to a celebrated past but to actually exceed it. The mourning for Cory prompted a vivid repainting of better days, when government officials were honest, when the nation was full of hope for its future, when anything was possible because Cory was president.
To be honest, sickened by what we see now, it is no surprise that we also yearn for those days. Those are the days which we intend to relive and if Cory could do it, perhaps we can do better. Perhaps, when our time truly comes, we will find ourselves still clinging to the values this woman embodied and, by then, we will be more than ready to change the status quo.
Today, I watch my country slowly deteriorating, confident in the belief that its future is still with us. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking, "Maybe, we can do better than Cory".
Maybe then, we will do better than all those who preceded us.
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