Word: aquinos
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...bloodied corpse before him: the earthly remains of the country's most famous and charismatic opponent-in-exile of the authoritarian rule of visibly ailing President Ferdinand Marcos, 65. Long regarded as Marcos' presidential successor before the country's strongman declared martial law in 1972, Aquino spent 7½A years in Philippine jails on charges of murder, illegal possession of firearms and subversion, and three more years of exile in the U.S. Ignoring innumerable threats and an official death sentence against him, Aquino returned home on Aug. 21. Within 30 seconds of his arrival at Manila...
...funeral refrain was also intended as a call for reconciliation in the populous (53 million) Philippines, which may face its worst political crisis in decades because of Aquino's murder. The assassination seared the country's consciousness and may have dealt a mortal blow to the idea of a nonviolent and nonmilitary succession in the Philippines after Marcos. The prospect of upheaval, in turn, threatens vital U.S. interests in the strategic islands...
...Filipinos were yet concerned with the broader consequences of the Cardinal's plea for social peace. Their concern was with Aquino. Nonetheless, after days of public viewing of the martyr's corpse, the crowds respected the Aquino family's wish for a relatively private funeral. Among the nonfamily members present at the service were officials of the U.S. (Ambassador Michael Armacost), Japan, Canada, Australia and the European Community, which sent representatives despite the Philippine foreign ministry's disapproval. No one from the Marcos regime came to the funeral...
After the ceremonies were over, Aquino's plain wooden coffin, draped with the Philippine national flag, was carried out of the church by 16 pallbearers amid cheers and chants of "Ninoy. Ninoy." When the coffin was placed atop the flower-bedecked platform of a flatbed truck, a crowd that had gathered before dawn went wild. Police estimated that, despite torrential rains, more than 1 million people had gathered along the 19-mile route between the Santo Domingo Church and the Manila Memorial Park cemetery...
Violence broke out only after dark, while Aquino's body was being laid into a temporary cement sepulcher, where it will remain until members of his family can agree on a final resting place. Before masons had cemented the vault closed, several thousand youths returned to the center of Manila, within a block of Malacanang, beating pots and pans and shouting, "Laban!" (fight). They were met by squads of police toting guns and riot shields. As the youths threw rocks and small homemade grenades, the police waded in, eventually dispersing the demonstrators by shooting into...