President Aquino made a number of really important contributions to the Philippines:
She oversaw changes to the constitution that limited the powers of the president
She promoted human rights and civil liberty
She attempted to broker peace with various political factions and insurgents
She pushed the Filipino economy in a more healthy and responsible direction
She guided the country through difficult times
She promoted national identity and the Filipino language
?Who is President Cory, and why are you thanking her?? they must have asked their fathers, mothers, aunts and uncles. That?s probably when their parents started to tell them about the all-powerful Marcos regime and how young people just like them fought back?and died?to break the dictator?s stranglehold on the Filipino people. They must have listened intently to the story of Ninoy Aquino, who decided to come home and join the people in their fight for freedom, only to be mercilessly killed by soldiers at the tarmac. They must have found it hard to believe how brave their own parents were, rallying around Ninoy?s courageous widow Cory, who showed them that faith can indeed move mountains or?in this instance?topple a dictatorship without violence or bloodshed.
Our young people today, probably, did not hear a heartfelt retelling of the story of People Power when Cory was still with the living. In a few years, will they remember Cory the way schoolchildren in the ?80s were taught to remember Marcos as somebody who ?declared martial law to save the Republic?? Will Cory still be held in deep respect 10 to 12 years from now, when today?s Grade 1 pupils shall have finished university and shall have become young adults?
How will future generations know of Cory and the Filipino people?s historic struggle to be free? In school of course, in their Hekasi and Araling Panlipunan classes. Our youth are supposed to learn historical events, facts and even trivia in the