Cory's lasting legacy.

Byline: Julkipli Wadi, Special to Gulf News

On August 1, the icon of Philippine democracy passed away. The whole nation mourned. A few days later, the spirit of the February 1986 'People Power' Revolution poured onto the streets of Metro Manila as the body of the late president Corazon Aquino, or Cory, was moved from Manila Cathedral to its final resting place.

Nostalgia over Cory's life and that of her husband, former senator Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino, spread across the country and other parts of the world, proving that the symbol of Philippine democracy lived in people's minds everywhere. Despite the separation of church and state in the Philippines, former presidents, loyal Cabinet members, military generals, priests, nuns, foreign leaders and dignitaries paid their last respects and held elaborate burial rituals for Cory, in contrast somewhat to her own values of selflessness and simplicity.

Indeed, given the Filipinos' tradition of myth-making, another monument for Cory is expected to be built soon. And they don't need to wait long. Malacanang has made an offer to build a monument for Cory while some church-affiliated groups are working for her possible beatification as a saint. It was commendable that Aquino's son and daughters refused Malacanang's offer, insisting that good governance was the best legacy for the late president, while the move to ordain Cory as a saint by the Vatican, although well received, seems premature.

It is likely that whoever succeeds current President Gloria Arroyo will try to ride the wave of Cory nostalgia, if only to get more support from Filipino hero-worshippers cum voters. What is certain is that the posthumous transformation of Ninoy and Cory into national heroes is already under way, subtly shaping the dynamics of Philippine politics.

The withdrawal from the presidential race of Senator Mar Roxas - a promising candidate in the May 2010 election - who made way for Senator Noynoy Aquino, son of Cory and Ninoy, speaks volumes. The question is not simply what impact such mystification will have on the country's political and cultural life, but why there is such an entrenched tradition of 'hero worship' in the Philippines.

Filipinos used to resort to myth-making as a way to secure their identity and to legitimise their struggle and resistance against colonialism. This was best represented by the mythic 'Maria Makiling', identified as the symbol of Inang Bayan, or motherland. In the early 20th century, Jose Rizal was 'politically beatified' by the US government officials in Manila to become the national hero of Filipinos - to the chagrin of the more rustic, decisive and courageous Andres Bonifacio and his mostly rural followers.

In the 1970s, president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos, tried to build imagery around the Filipino mythic figure of Si Malakas at si Maganda (the strong and the beautiful), but their 20 years of dictatorship put paid to that. But where Ferdinand and Imelda failed, the 'nostalgists' seem to be successful so far in building the Ninoy-Cory myth, which will certainly make Noynoy a formidable candidate in May 2010.

The Filipino love for anything anthropomorphic has deeply defined the nation and the fabric of its social, political, economic, cultural and religious ethos. It is probably not coincidental that the famous Luneta Park, with the towering statue of Jose Rizal, is now rivalled by the gigantic statue of Lapu-Lapu, a Muslim Visayan hero in the 16th century, while another park is made fittingly historical by the presence of the valiant figure of Rajah Sulaiman, the early Islamic defender of Manila against Spanish Conquestadores.

The classic Heroes and Hero-worship by Thomas Carlyle underscores this tradition in many societies as seeking "to make what was disorderly, chaotic, into a thing ruled, regular" and to find "a centre to revolve around".

In the Philippines, the search for order cuts across colonial and post-colonial arrangements. In the absence of order, hero-making continues to be both necessary and important. However, it is unlikely that this alone will solve the country's problems. If genuine political and economic development takes place, then who needs heroes?

- Opinion Asia, 2009

Julkipli Wadi is an associate professor of Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines.

Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2009. All rights reserved.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company