EDSA 20

As the country lays to rest one of its beloved leaders, Cebuanos and Cebu residents feel a certain pride in knowing that it did its part in protecting Corazon Aquino during the country's darkest hours before the dawn that is the first Edsa Revolution.

At the same time, there’s a certain irony that Cebu hosted not just the central figure of the first Edsa Revolution but also a beneficiary of the second revolution whose half-hearted attempts to provide a state funeral for Aquino were met with polite rejection.

When news of Aquino's death broke out, Carmelite sisters and Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco recalled with a mixture of grief and wistfulness that fateful day on Feb. 22, 1986 when they brought the slain senator's widow to the convent to protect her from feared henchmen of the Marcos regime.

While Aquino's nfluence in Cebu may have waned in the past decade with the emerging political strength of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo—who became the first president to have taken her oath of office in the province –– there was little doubt about her role in Cebu’s development.

There were a few instances when Cory figured in arguments with Cebuano leaders like former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña, who then advocated the use of Cebuano as the country's national language instead of Tagalog.

However, the former governor had nothing to worry about since Aquino and her predecessors helped him build the province’s economy into a “boom” economy before the 1997 Asian crisis.

And she lent her presence and following to Cebuano political figures such as Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. , who was then targetted for impeachment by lawmakers who are now in the forefront in the opposition against President Arroyo.

In all these, Cory's Cebu connection has not been severed though it had been overtaken by her predecessors. When Aquino called on President Arroyo to resign, not a few Cebuano political figures wondered and even chided Aquino for siding with the opposition whom she helped topple with the second revolution.

When she passed away peacefully last Aug. 1, her connection to the Cebuanos was revived and with it tributes from local officials, some of whom were kids and teenagers when the first Edsa revolution broke out.

Cebuano leaders from mayors to provincial officials join the Cebu Archdiocese in paying their final respects to the late president. For those officials who had the fortune of meeting and working with Cory, they can honor her legacy with selfless service to their constituents.