By Xinhua Writer Xu Lingui
MANILA, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- She was the first woman
president in Asia. Her legacy was defined by restoring democracy to the
Philippines and ensuring a less corrupt government during her six-year term.
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File photo taken on June 6, 2008 shows
former Philippine President Corazon Aquino (C) attending a banquet at the
residential place of former Philippine President Joseph Estrada (L) in
Manila.(Xinhua, File Photo)
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But Corazon "Cory" Aquino,
who died on Saturday at the age of 76, was also remembered by Chinese community
as a president who openly appreciated her Chinese origin and the first head of
state to embark on a "roots-tracing" trip to her ancestral hometown 21 years
ago, Chinese-Filipino scholars said.
Aquino, the forth generation of Chinese immigrants,
was seen in a rare photo speaking to a huge crowd in the tiny village of
Hongjian in Fujian province in southeastern China. Clad in typically
yellow-colored "Cory T-shirts", two dozen children in the front row raised their
heads in awe to this English-speaking auntie, who was said to be a
great-granddaughter from the neighborhood.
Like millions of other small traders in coastal
China, Aquino's great grandfather Xu Yuhuan -- known as Jose Cojuangco to
Filipinos left his hometown in Fujian province and sailed to the Philippine
shore. In 1861, the Cojuangcos started by running a small rice and sugar mill in
central Luzon but soon found themselves grow into one of the country's richest
families.
Born in 1933 in Manila, Maria Corazon Cojuangco had
never returned to her ancestral hometown until the second year of her
presidency. She insisted to visit Hongjian village on her first state visit to
China in April 1988, Research Director of the Bahay Tsinoy Museum Go Bon Juan
told Xinhua.
"It was a big news in the Filipino-Chinese community.
We all felt proud and excited," said Bon Juan, one of the three reporters
accompanying the president on her "personal diplomacy" trip to China.
Cory chatted with her
73-year-old uncle who she never met, burnt incense in a temple to pay tribute to
family ancestors and donated 15,000 U.S. dollars to build a children's
playground equipped with a skating rink. "Villagers were thrilled, especially
her relatives there," Bon Juan said.
Among the heads of the states
who have Chinese blood in their veins, Aquino is probably the first to take on
what Chinese described as a "roots-tracing" trip and she earned credit for it,
said Bon Juan, who has done extensive overseas Chinese studies in recent years.
43 Chinese media were quick to pick up of the news of Aquino's death on Saturday
and people mourned the passing of someone they felt related to. Chinese
President Hu Jintao also sent his message of condolence.
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This is an undated file photo of the
former Philippine President Corazon Aquino taken in Manila.(Xinhua, File
Photo)
Photo
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"I have learned with deep sadness of the shocking
demise of H.E. Corazon C. Aquino," Hu said, describing the former president as
"a good friend of the Chinese people" and praised her for making significant
contributions to strengthen the China-Philippine ties.
China's trade with the Philippines valued only 300
million U.S. dollars in 1987 but it grew 100 times over the past two decades.
Today, China is the third trading partner of the Philippines and is poised to
close the gaps with the U.S. and Japan.
Victor Go, senior editor of the local
Chinese-language newspaper World News, said trade only started to pick up during
Aquino's administration and she had laid the solid ground for it to flourish in
the next 20 years.
Aquino also managed to inherit her predecessor
Ferdinand Marcos' go-easy policy towards Chinese immigrants and help
Filipino-Chinese take roots and gain strength in the Philippine society,
scholars said.
Go said though the Chinese community is divided in
votes between Aquino and Marcos, his support for Cory never sways. In Manila's
China town, like many other places in the country after Cory's death, yellow
ribbons hang on trees, shops and tricycles. Yellow was the former president's
favorite color.
Encouraged by Aquino's origin and achievement, a
growing number of young Chinese-Filipinos ventured into politics, an arena
habitually shunned off by business-minded Chinese immigrants, Bon Juan said.
"That marked the start of the wave of political
enthusiasm in Chinese community," he said. "Many young Chinese-Filipinos were
campaigning for government or congressional posts and presidential candidates
started to see the bloc of Chinese immigrants as a voting base."
Teresita Ang-See, founding president of Kaisa
Heritage Center, said over the past decade Cory did not miss the groundbreaking,
inauguration and expansion ceremonies of the Bahay Tsinoy museum, which is
dedicated to show the Chinese immigrants' life in Philippine.
"Tita Cory (Auntie Cory) usually shunned
groundbreaking ceremonies because some projects did not go through. But she made
an exception for us," Ang-See recalled the 1995 event.
For his part, Go said he would never forget what Cory
said on the day.
"She told us, you should all be proud because one of
the daughters (of Chinese immigrants) became the president," Go said. "I was so
moved."
Ang-See showed Xinhua a column piece she wrote days
ago to pray for Cory's recovery Yellow ribbons for Tita Cory.
"It was scheduled to publish next Tuesday, but our
worst fear happened. It is over," Ang-See said as she prepared to leave her
office in the third floor of the museum.
Outside, where Cory used to stand during the
inauguration, yellow ribbons tied to the museum entrance twisted in the rain.
Philippine leader cuts short U.S.
visit to mourn death of former president
MANILA, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will cut short her U.S. visit to pay the last tribute to
former president Corazon "Cory" Aquino who died on Saturday in Manila after a
long battle with colon cancer.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced Sunday
that Arroyo will scrap her visit to Chicago and Guam and flies directly back to
Manila before dawn Wednesday. Full story
Philippine president declares 10-day
national mourning for Corazon Aquino
MANILA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday declared a 10-day period of national
mourning for the country's former president Corazon Aquino, who died of colon
cancer earlier in the day.
"I am announcing today that we will officially
observe a 10-day period of national mourning," Arroyo said in a statement.Full story
Former Philippine president Corazon
Aquino passes away
MANILA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Former Philippine
president Corazon "Cory" Aquino died early Saturday morning at age 76 after
battling colon cancer for over a year, her family said.
Corazon Aquino's son, Senator Benigno Aquino III,
confirmed that the former Philippine leader died of cardio-respiratory arrest at
3:18 a.m. local time Saturday (1918 GMT Friday) at the Makati Medical Center in
the country's capital Manila. Full story
