Thousands Pay Last Tribute to Corazon Aquino

Over 100,000 people took to the rain-soaked streets of Manila today to bid farewell to former president Corazon Aquino, whose "People Power" democracy movement ended decades of dictatorship, Malaysia Kini reports.

Photo: Thousands Pay Last Tribute to Corazon Aquino

Carried by a ten-wheeler flat bed truck, Mrs. Aquino's coffin left Manila Cathedral in Intramuros at 11:30 a.m. with an estimated crowd of 30,000. The crowd ballooned as Mrs. Aquino's funeral convoy reached Roxas Boulevard with police estimates placing the throng at 200,000 from Intramuros to Parañaque.

Men and women, standing at least 10-feet-wide on both sides of the road, openly wept as the truck crawled through the swelling crowd for the 18-kilometer (11-mile) journey.

A military helicopter flew low overhead, sprinkling the crowd with yellow confetti denoting the colour of Aquino's "people power" revolt, while ships anchored on nearby Manila Bay blared their horns.

Several mourners broke through the security cordons to touch the hearse. Many shouted her name and threw flowers onto the truck where four members of the Armed Forces stood in silence on each corner of the coffin.

Some of the mourners such as Rachelle Singson de Mesa, 55, came from faraway provinces. De Mesa arrived from Laoag City Wednesday morning, ABS CBN News reports.

Congressman Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his sister Imee Marcos were among thousands of Filipinos filing in the Manila Cathedral to pay their last tribute to the late president, who died last Saturday after a 16-month battle with colon cancer.

The Marcoses were "graciously" welcomed by Aquino's children and they stayed briefly to condole with the family, local television ANC reported. "We have our own beliefs as Filipinos. I thank them for coming," Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, son of "Cory" Aquino, said.

"I can feel the pain, the loss of a loved one, so I am in prayer," said Marcos, Xinhua reports.