City Hall, Archdiocese hold masses for Aquino
Mayor Celso Lobregat on Monday, urges city government officials and employees to wear anything yellow as a tribute to the late President Corazon Aquino, mother of democracy, who succumbed to colon cancer August 1. (JOEY BAUTISTA)
The city government in coordination with the Archdiocese of Zamboanga has offered masses in honor of the late President C. Corazon Aquino, billed as Asia’s icon of democracy and the inspiration of the Filipino people.
Mayor Celso Lobregat has enjoined the rank and file employees of the city government, the business sector and other groups to attend the Eucharistic celebrations for the repose of the soul of Cory Aquino, who passed away at dawn Saturday after battling with colon cancer.
The first mass was held yesterday afternoon (5:30 p.m.) at the shrine of the miraculous Lady of the Pillar with Archbishop Romulo Valles as the main celebrant. The second mass is slated for 9 a.m. on Wednesday at the Immaculate Concepcion Metropolitan Cathedral, simultaneous with Cory’s interment in Metro Manila.
Catholic faithful who wish to attend the mass are requested to wear yellow (symbol of Cory’s fight for freedom that ousted the dictatorial regime and catapulted her to power in 1986 People Power) shirts, ribbons or armbands.
“Zamboanga City joins the entire nation in mourning the death of President Aquino,” Lobregat said hours after Cory’s death was announced Saturday morning, as he immediately ordered the flying of Philippine flag at half mast in City Hall and all other government offices in the city in reverence to the country’s first woman president.
Lobregat remembered Cory under whose presidency the first elections for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was held and resulted in the re-composition of four provinces in Southern Philippines. “After the first ARMM elections, the Mindanao regions were reorganized and that was the time when an executive order was issued, transferring the regional center from Zamboanga to Pagadian,” he recalled.
While he was not yet in politics at that time, Lobregat recalled that then President Cory had prioritized Mindanao by initiating measures to restore peace in this part of the country.
Meanwhile, other agencies in government based in the city including non-government organizations, local universities and other sectors have initiated activities to mourn the death of Mrs. Aquino, the country’s 11th and first woman president.
The 3rd Air Division of the Philippine Air Force based at the Edwin Andrews Air Base in Sta. Maria held the firing of 1 round of 105 canon blank ammunition every 30 minutes stating 11 a.m. up to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Local churches offered masses and other groups led the lighting of candles on the streets and in their homes at 6:30 Saturday night. Other groups also initiated the tying of yellow ribbons on trees, posts and in front of their houses. (Vic Larato)