Erap on Cory’s death: Our country has lost a mother

The Philippines lost a mother with the demise of former president and democracy icon Corazon Aquino early Saturday morning, former president Joseph Estrada said. "Today our country has lost a mother. This is a sad day for the Filipino people," Estrada said through his spokesperson Margaux Salcedo in a text message. "President Aquino has not only been an icon of democracy but has stood as the guiding voice of our people since EDSA 1. She was a woman of both strength and graciousness," Estrada said. In a separate interview with GMA News, Estrada called Aquino “the mother of Philippine democracy." “Malaki talaga ang paghanga ko sa kanya, dahil siya ang nagbalik ng demokrasya sa ating bansa (I really admire her because she restored democracy in our country)," he said. “Buong bansa, mayaman o mahirap, nagmamahal kay Pangulong Cory Aquino (The whole country, rich or poor, loves President Cory Aquino)," he added. Estrada described former president Aquino as a simple woman with exemplary determination. “Bagamat nakangiti lagi, pero alam kong matibay ang kanyang kalooban (Although she always has a smile on her face, I know that she is strong)," he said. “Makikita mo talaga na totoong tao. (You can really see that she is a genuine person.)" Estrada even recalled advising former president Aquino to let her youngest daughter, Kris, enter show business, being a former movie star himself. “Sinabi ko sa kanya, maganda naman ang pelikula. Lalong-lalo na kung iyon talaga ang gusto ni Kris, huwag (na niyang) awatin (I told her that the movie industry is good. If that is what Kris wants, then let her)," he said. When Mrs. Aquino rose to power in 1986 through the People Power Revolution that also resulted in the ouster of the strongman Ferdinand Marcos, her first move was to declare a "revolutionary government" and replace all officials in government, down to the lowest levels. One of these officials who suddenly found themselves out of power was Estrada, who was then mayor of the town of San Juan in Metro Manila. Estrada made his political comeback during the 1987 elections for members of the resurrected bicameral Congress. An immensely popular action movie star, Estrada was only one of two opposition candidates who survived the administration onslaught. Riding high on what was then known as the “Cory magic," the administration slate that included senior statesman Jovito R. Salonga, captured 22 of 24 Senate seats at stake. The only other survivor was EDSA I key player and now Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who resigned as Mrs. Aquino’s defense chief in November 1986 over policy differences. Estrada crossed paths with Mrs. Aquino again after he was elected president of the Philippines in 1998. As charges of corruption mounted against Estrada, Mrs. Aquino joined calls for his resignation. In December 2008 when erstwhile House Speaker Jose De Venecia launched a book that dwelt on corruption in the Arroyo government, Mrs. Aquino apologized for helping topple Estrada, adding that the EDSA 2 uprising that forced Estrada to step down in January of 2001 was a mistake. The uprising’s main beneficiary was then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is now being accused not only of tolerating massive corruption in government but also of trying to kill the democracy that Mrs. Aquino helped restore. Mrs. Aquino stopped supporting Mrs. Arroyo after the President was accused by the political opposition of cheating in the 2004 presidential elections. Estrada said that while the public wishes Mrs. Aquino could have lived longer "especially now that our Constitution is being threatened anew," the best Filipinos could do at this point is to follow her example. "We must honor her by practicing the principles embodied in our Constitution that she stood by - truth, justice, freedom, love - and by fighting for democracy as she did," Estrada said. Mrs. Aquino, who had been battling stage-4 colon cancer, succumbed to cardiorespiratory arrest at 3:18 a.m. at the Makati Medical Center, where she had been confined since last June. She was 76. - Andreo Calonzo, GMANews.Tv