On August 5, rainy Wednesday, we bid farewell to the gentle person of our country, former President Cory C. Aquino.
Sa tindi ng information technology ngayon, I know that nakita ninyo kung gaano katindi ang pagmamahal ng mga Pinoy kay Pres. Cory- tens of thousands joining the funeral cortege and many more lining up the sidewalks to wave their last goodbye- all these amidst the rains brought by typhoon ‘Kiko’ who has earlier left the country for Japan but decided to come back and hanggang sinusulat ko itong ating column, a day after the funeral, ay patuloy pa ring nagsasaboy ng ulan dito sa amin sa metromanila (a comeback no one appreciates).
Ano pa ba ang pwede kong i- share sa inyo as first- hand account of this sad day- yes, I know that we all should be happy as Pres. Cory has rejoined husband Ninoy and all her loved ones who passed away before she did…that she is now living in eternal life free from mortal cares and pain- but we, who are left behind, most especially her family and dearest kin and friends have human feelings and this includes missing the absence of a person we love. For me, konti lang ang maitutulong ng lahat ng spiritual advisers and psychiatrists/ psychologists sa puntong ito kaya nga ang kanilang advise lagi- lagi ay sige, ibuhos mo ang iyong nararamdaman- umiyak ka .
Tears are very relieving to a person. Ang hindi niya mai- express na feeling ay pwede nyang mai- release sa pagluha.
To the millions of Filipinos not included in Pres. Cory’s circle of kin and friends but who were nevertheless touched by her kindness of heart, panghihinayang ang ating nararamdaman ngayon sa pagkawala ng isang kasangga na handang magtanggol sa ating mga walang boses, mga walang k kung tratuhin ng mga nasa kapangyarihan.
I never spoke to her although I have been TV director of some of her many official activities shown on television during her Presidency ( when assigned by my former boss Dodi Limcaoco).
I was also told that she appreciated two of the very important tv documentaries that I helped put on air- ‘From February to February’- an account of Pres, Cory’s first year of leadership of our country. This, I was also told, was one of the items she would give to foreign dignitaries (as token presents) that she would meet during her first years as Philippine President. Pati daw sa Pope ay nagpadala din siya ng kopya ng video. This video, scripted by Joel Pagsanghan, received a special citation from the Catholic Mass Media Awards for its truthfull telling of the story of the first year after EDSA I.
Of lesser impact but just as historical for me, was the tv documentary ‘The Verdict’. The investigation of Sen. Benigno Aquino’s death was the subject of this tv documentary, the first time one was produced that was not penned by a Marcos- controlled scriptwriter ( Doris Nuval, also my boss in Public Affairs, Channel 4 who has also become a true friend over the years. Baka natatandaan ninyo sya sa ibang pangalan nya- Doris Baffrey, of the Light- -A- Fire movement imprisoned at Camp Bicutan for the PICC Bombing, released after several years but exiled in The Netherlands, and returned to the Philippines when Pres. Cory took over). Our documentary narrator was Florencio ‘Butch’ Abad.
Personally, I found producing these 2 documentaries very taxing but truly fulfilling professionally. Because both were historical accounts, it meant that the videos included are genuine- not posed or rehearsed but are actual shots taken at the actual time and venue where the event took place and with all the characters and personalities involved. For ‘From February to February’, aside from the files in Channel 4, we approached hundreds of people, the foreign news bureau chiefs especially, for use of their footages. ‘The Verdict’ was a more difficult proposition- we only had the files of the ‘old’ Ch4. But was it just a stroke of luck or was there an unseen hand leading us? Nun po kasing panahong iyon, walang kabudget- budget to buy tapes sa opisina. Ang ginagawa naming, nanghihingi kami ng mga ‘used’ tapes n gaming mga kaibigan sa industriya. Ito pong si Maning Silva who was head of WTN yata at that time, at malalim na kaibigan ng mga taga News division ng istasyon ay laging nagdo- donate ng mga nagamit na nyang tapes- once lang nila ginagamit ang mga yun tapos tapon na( at kami ang tagasalo!). And so, sandamakmak na 20-minute tapes donated by Maning ang inihatag sa amin sa editing suite- ‘o hayan ang gagamitin ninyo for your materials’, ang instruction sa amin. Anu ba’t nung ipinai erase naming ang mga dating laman ng mga tapes na ito ay nakita naming ang mga sariling kuha ni Maning ng proceedings sa Agrava Commission- laking swerte for us as we now could have more videos! Laking trabaho din for both projects as we had to initially preview all available tapes, choose and mark the relevant ones- previewing alone took 2 weeks for each project. Editing consumed almost a week.
The station was happy, Doris and I and the rest of the production group was happy. These were
Rare experiences in our profession- the kind that don’t come everyday. We have put all our expertise in coming up with them. And we felt very fulfilled when we presented these on air.
So, mga kaibigan, how does one who does not belong to family or circle of friends say good bye to the gentle person? Thousands went to La Salle in Greenhills or Manila Cathedral in Intramuros to pay their last respects…hundreds of thousands lined up the streets and joined the funeral cortege…I know millions said prayers for her…I suspect the whole nation was glued to tv, radio, or the internet to watch the funeral rites…
Your browser may not support display of this image. I did all those and more. For the first time, I hung yellow ribbons in my house and in my gates-the yellow ribbons that have become synonymous with the name CORY.
Your browser may not support display of this image. I did it for my friend Gel Valbuena who now resides in San Jose, California- because she is not here in Manila and because I know that she would have wanted to proclaim her love once more for this woman she worked for in the past. I did it for my very young children who, while they were cutting and tying the ribbons, were regaled with stories of the past and the good deeds of the gentle lady with the strong determination, that they may value her and what she did for her countrymen. And I did it for myself- the non- political person who loved her because she was not a politician.