Cory Remembered

Filipinos and democracy loving people all over the world paid tribute today to democracy icon Corazon "Cory" Aquino, who helped lead a "people power" revolt that ousted a dictator and whose death last year became a springboard for her son's triumphant run for the Philippine Presidency.

President Benigno "P-Noy" Aquino III led one of several tributes to his mother, calling on Filipinos to continue her struggle for democracy by helping him confront his Southeast Asian nation's illnesses, including poverty and pervasive corruption.

"The clamor of our people for change is so deep," Aquino said during a memorial Mass for his mother held at a suburban Manila gymnasium used as a venue for many pro-democracy protests. "None of us can afford to be bystanders."

Aquino called his late mother "one extraordinary woman," who remains deeply beloved a year after she died following yearlong battle with colon cancer at 76.

To commemorate her 1st death aniversary, college students line the edge of a 200- by 250- foot photo mosaic of the late former President at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila yesterday. The mosaic is composed of 3,200 pictures and weighs almost four tons.

credits to The Philippine Star