Thousands of Filipinos stood in the rain on the streets of the capital, Manila, to bid farewell to Corazon Aquino, the former Philippine president who ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Aquino, who died Aug. 1, will be buried beside her husband, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, whose 1983 assassination left the woman Marcos dismissed as “a mere housewife” as the focus of opposition protests and led to her becoming president.
After his death she “fought on,” Father Catalino Arevalo, her spiritual adviser, said at a funeral mass in Manila Cathedral today. “Whenever she thought freedom and the true good of our land were involved, she returned to the streets of struggle.”
People stood outside the cathedral and lined the route to Manila Memorial Park, where she buried, many wearing shirts or carrying balloons or banners in yellow, her political color. Aquino died of a heart attack after a more than one year battle with cancer. She was 76.
President Gloria Arroyo declared today a national holiday for the funeral. Arroyo paid her respects to Aquino at the cathedral shortly before the funeral mass, after arriving home from a shortened trip to the U.S. She didn’t stay for the service. Aquino had called for Arroyo’s resignation or removal since 2005 on vote-rigging and corruption allegations.
Two of Marcos’ children paid their respects.
“Cory is the symbol of democracy, the mother of all Filipinos,” said Chito Reyes, a 53 year-old cook, as he stood in a kilometer-long line outside Manila Cathedral. “I want to see her for the last time, to mourn with her family.”
Aquino rejected the trappings of office and refused to live or work in the Malacanang presidential palace, making it a museum, and declined to run again. While her six years as president were marred by coup attempts, power outages and an economic contraction, she endeared herself to the people, who called her “Tita Cory” or “Aunt Cory.”
“She herself was beyond reproach,” said Henry Totanes, a history professor at Ateneo de Manila University. “She did what she did at her own personal sacrifice. When the time came to step down, she stepped down and continued to fight for democracy as a private citizen.”
Aquino married opposition politician Benigno Aquino in 1954 and led the anti-Marcos protests after his 1983 assassination, forcing the dictator to call an election in 1986.
When Marcos was declared the winner amid widespread claims of fraud, Aquino organized demonstrations around the country. Military defections and a three-day demonstration brought Manila to a standstill. Marcos went into exile after so-called loyalist forces refused to fire on demonstrators.
(Source: Bloomberg