MANILA, August 5, 2009- Thousands of Filipinos from all walks of life joined the Catholic Church to bid farewell to a woman described by Pope Benedict XVI as a "woman of deep and unwavering faith."
Mourners lined the streets around the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception as political and business leaders, students and thousands of others heard the funeral rites for former president Corazon Aquino.
Mrs Aquino died at age of 76 on August 1 after from cardio-respiratory arrest due to complications of colon cancer.
Funeral rites for the country's "icon of democracy" started 9 a.m. on August 5, with Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas welcoming the congregation.
Villegas led the nation in expressing thanks to Mrs Aquino for all the sacrifices she made both as a devout Catholic and a public servant.
"Thank you Tita Cory, thank you very much. Thank you for fighting for us. Thank you for teaching us how to live and die for others," said Villegas.
"We promise to love this country as you loved us. There is darkness in our land because you are gone. But we know, we have enough light within us because you have shared with us your fire," he said.
Villegas, a former aide of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, lauded Mrs Aquino for inspiring people being a good example of being a true Filipino Christian.
"Tita Cory, thank you for being our light during our darkest hours. Thank you for being our strength when we were afraid," he said.
"You gallantly showed us that to be a Filipino is great blessing from God. Thank you for showing us your greatness. You were born to wealth and plenty but you lived in simplicity and humbly carried our painful misery," the bishop added.
In his homily, Jesuit priest Catalino Arevalo trumpeted how the "Cory magic" captured the Filipinos in 1983 when her husband, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated, and in 1986 when she ran and won against strongman Ferdinand Marcos and again in her death last Saturday.
Arevalo, who was said to be the personal choice of Mrs Aquino to give the homily in her funeral mass, hailed the former president as a 'true queen' in the hearts of Filipinos.
"Perhaps, she was the only true queen our people have ever had and she was queen because we knew she truly held our hearts and the gentleness and the greatness of our own," he said.
Arevalo also explained how the Cory magic worked throughout the years, adding he found three reasons why.
"One is because of her selflessness and on how she loved the country above all else, even above the family. Number two is in her faith and dedication to the Lord. And number three is because of her courage for her abiding loyalty to the country that never wavered and never broken," he said.
Arevalo, one of the country's most respected Theologian, added that Mrs Aquino was a person that had no desire for power but only an unwavering want to help the people.
The funeral mass was also attended by an array of church, government and showbiz personalities and was jam-packed to its capacity of 2,000.
Catholic prelates who concelebrated the Mass were Papal Nuncio Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, Manila Archbishops Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales of Manila, Ramon Arguelles of Lipa and Paciano Aniceto of San Fernando, Bishops Deogracias Iñiguez of Kalookan, Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, Reynaldo Evangelista of Boac, Gabriel Reyes of Antipolo, John Du of Dumaguete and Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao.
Other prelates who attended the Mass include Bishops Pablo David of San Fernando, Francisco De Leon of Antipolo, Bernardino Cortez of Manila, Prudencio Andaya of Tabuk, Leo Drona of San Pablo, Rolando Tirona of Infanta, Leopoldo Tumulak of the Military Ordinariate and Novaliches Bishop-Emeritus Teodoro Bacani.
After the Mass ended, full police honours greeted the coffin of the former president before it was loaded into a flat-bed truck fully adorned with white and yellow flowers.
And while the coffin was slowly departing Intramuros, a helicopter was seen hovering around the area with yellow confetti already raining.
Several songs were sung by the artists including "Bayan Ko" by Salonga, "Hindi Kita Malilimutan" by Padilla and "Handog ng Pilipino" by the APO triumvirate.
After the funeral Mass ended, full police honours greeted the coffin of the former president before it was loaded into a flat-bed truck fully adorned with white and yellow flowers.
And while the coffin was slowly departing Intramuros, a helicopter was seen hovering around the area with yellow confetti already raining.
The remains of Mrs Aquino was buried beside her husband, Ninoy, at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque after an around 8-hour funeral procession. (CBCPNews)