East Timor president attends burial rites for Cory

MANILA, Philippines – For someone who was moved and inspired by former President Corazon Aquino in the struggle for democracy, East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta made sure he followed her “journey” from the time he met her and former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. almost three decades ago.

Ramos-Horta, who arrived in Manila early Wednesday morning to pay his last respects to the former leader, said the Aquinos guided him to continue to work on the “unfinished” business of democracy.

The East-Timorese president said he could not even compare himself to Mrs. Aquino and her husband for what they had done for the country.

“Timor Leste mourns with you on this great loss. On a personal note, I feel I have lost a close friend. I knew Ninoy and Cory. On this day, I know I had to come to Manila to be with true friends. Friends are those who share their blessings and their sorrows,” Ramos-Horta said.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner described Cory as a gift to the Philippines and Asia, a lady who embodied all that is good and true and will forever bring the people together.

Ramos-Horta first met the former president’s husband, Ninoy, in New York in the early ’80s when he gave a lecture at Columbia University.

“I had heard about him so I went to listen. I introduced myself to him and he greeted me warmly and we stayed in touch,” he said.

“I followed the journey of Ninoy when he returned to the Philippines until the unfortunate incident (assassination) and met Cory when I came in after the return to democracy inspired by her compassion. Cory inspired me in peaceful leadership,” he added.

Role models

He said they shared “similarities” in the struggle for democracy because like Cory, who lost her husband when he was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983, he also lost his brothers and sisters.

“I lost them in my struggle. But Cory would always say we should live on for democracy, an unfinished business,” Ramos-Horta said.

He stressed that long before the struggle for democracy and human rights was successful in Asia, Filipinos paved the way for democracy.

“She was a simple housewife, her husband was murdered, inspired millions so I thought I knew Cory well. I knew Ninoy, so I thought I’d pay tribute,” he said.

When asked how the former president inspired him in his own struggle in East Timor, Ramos-Horta said, “Filipinos inspired us as we watched the struggle here and we had Filipino priests and nuns in East Timor in our darkest years.”

Many Filipino priests and nuns, he said, gave their support to the East Timorese church.

“As far as Ninoy and Cory are concerned they were leading the first democracy movement in Southeast Asia, so that was the contagious impact of Cory and Ninoy,” he said.

He said Mrs. Aquino had expressed concern over his health and assassination attempt even if she was already sick.

Ramos-Horta had helped lead East Timor’s campaign for independence from Indonesia, overcoming widespread international indifference to put East Timor’s fate near the top of the global agenda.

Like Cory and Ninoy, Ramos-Horta’s journey to the top has been a long and difficult one.

After fleeing the former Portuguese colony just three days before Indonesian troops invaded, he spent 24 years in exile lobbying foreign governments and the UN on the East Timorese cause.

Branded a criminal and a traitor by the Indonesian government, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Bishop Carlos Belo, the leader of East Timor’s majority Catholic population in 1996.

The award brought international attention to Ramos-Horta’s efforts and to reports of widespread abuses conducted by the Indonesian authorities in their efforts to quell opposition to Jakarta’s rule.

Meanwhile, Australia, France and Singapore expressed their condolences to the Philippines after the passing of Mrs. Aquino.