Corazon C. Aquino: Esteemed Scholastican, renowned Filipina, world-class leader

MANILA, Philippines - We lost a wonderful person at the crack of dawn of August 1st. A woman leader, a mother, an advocate, and a nurturer who skillfully and patiently nursed the country back to a state of “health” in 1986. From a dictator-administration, this woman heard the cries of many, thereby leading them to freedom. Not just a state of mind but an essential value that every Filipino has been enjoying for the last 23 years. Corazon Cojuangco Aquino is truly the Philippines’ Icon of Democracy.

Cory, as fondly called by family, closest friends, and colleagues, was born on 25th of January 1933; attended various exclusive schools for girls; and, left for the US to complete her secondary and tertiary education.

Cory started in St. Scholastica’s College as an elementary student. Hers was a commendable experience for she embodied what the Benedictine Sisters taught: humility and simplicity of life in celebration of one’s service to God and fellowmen and women. She completed her primary education in St. Scho with flying colors! She graduated Valedictorian in 1943. She was quiet but an exceptionally bright young girl, as often described by the German sisters who also served as teachers.

During World War II, in 1945, an incendiary bomb set St. Scholastica’s College on fire. All the buildings were gone and SSC was forced to close down. The students transferred to other schools, among them Cory Aquino.

She then moved to the United States and studied at the Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia, the Notre Dame Convent School in New York, and the College of Mount Saint Vincent, also in New York.

She also worked as a volunteer in the 1948 United States presidential campaign of Republican Thomas Dewey against President Harry Truman. Cory Aquino studied Liberal Arts and graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts in French Language, with a minor in Mathematics. Back then, she intended to become a math teacher and a language interpreter.

Cory returned to the Philippines to study law at the Far Eastern University. It is also where she met Benigno Servillano “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., son of a former National Assembly Speaker, and the rest, as they say, is history.

She, too, has received honorary doctorates from the Boston University, Fordham University, University of the Philippines, University of Sto. Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University, San Beda College, Seattle University, and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, to name a few.

Indeed, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino easily shifted the country’s troubled state into tumultuous-free condition, she wasted no time in time re-introducing democratic institutions which brought about substantive economic and social reforms. A value she has adapted as a young Scholastican and practiced throughout her life as woman-leader.

On the lighter side of things, Cory is also a painter. She puts to canvass the serenity and calmness the represents her. These are further complemented by bright and vibrant colors, and turns out to be images that uplift the soul.

In 1985, she received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding and was heralded by TIME magazine as one of the 20 Most Influential Asians in 1999. Prior to that, she was conferred the “PAX Award” by no less than St. Scholastica’s College, the highest form of citation given to the School’s alumnae.

She, too, was a recipient of the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award in 2004. She received such from no less than Madeleine Albright in Washington D.C.

As a citizen, she has continued her life’s mission of defending and strengthening Philippine democracy. She has also pursued her crusade in rebuilding the moral foundation of Philippine society.

Mrs. Aquino will be sorely missed; her legacy, however, shall remain alive in each one of us. It is now our moral obligation not just to her but to the country and in service of God to ensure that her efforts do not go in vain. — St. Scholastica’s College Manila