People. Power.

Former President Corazon C. Aquino passed away over the weekend. I was in the province, enjoying a slight reprieve and had purposefully and happily denied myself any communication devices. I only heard about it over drinks with Cyril late Saturday evening at Natalna.

Since returning to Manila, I have gone over the tributes, watched some videos and listened to the news. This afternoon, I watched her September 1986 speech before the U.S. Congress as well as some videos of the 1986 Edsa Revolution. On the radio in the taxi, I listened as throngs of supporters did a sort of pilgrimage, accompanying Cory's casket and retracing the major landmarks of People Power before heading to the Manila Cathedral.

When Edsa 1 was playing out, I was a seven year old in China. I remember people on the street waving to us, giving the thumbs up sign and yelling "Go Philippines!" I remember giving a speech on our home countries in school, wearing a yellow t-shirt saying "I stopped a tank with my heart." To this day, nothing brings a tear to my eye like watching videos of that great time in our history when the Filipino was at her best.

To me, that is what Cory represents. The best of the Filipino. Not because she was the best Filipino herself, but because she became a symbol of great aspirations of a very humble people. In those three days in 1986, the aspirations were realized.

With her passing, I pray for an awakening – that the spirit of Edsa 1986 be rekindled. A spirit of hope. I pray that Filipinos realise that People Power was not just about Cory. After all, it was the people that rallied around her and who put their lives on the line for her. People Power was about the people. The women who tied themselves to ballot boxes to protect votes, nuns who faced down tanks armed only with rosaries , children who offered soldiers flowers – every Filipino who wanted change and fought for it and inspired the world. While Cory gave us hope, the Filipino gave her courage. The Filipino gave Ninoy and Cory a reason.

Some would argue that we squandered Edsa 1. Perhaps it is true. But at the same time, the history of this country is not yet finished. A recent Time magazine article concluded by asking whom will the Filipino people march with now that "their saint has gone to meet her God?"

I think the time has come to march with our best selves without the impetus of a symbol. If we squandered Edsa 1, let us not squander Cory's death. I hope that the what Edsa 1 symbolized can finally be realized. That as we grieve the loss, we also realise what we are capable of. Maybe her passing can help us reclaim People Power by reminding us of our best selves.

Inspiring, heroic, brave. Filipino.