Philippines lays to rest democracy icon Aquino
MANILA (AFP) – – At least 150,000 people took to the rain-soaked streets of Manila on Wednesday to bid farewell to former president Corazon Aquino, whose “People Power” democracy movement ended decades of dictatorship.
Aquino, who died aged 76 after a long battle with cancer, was to be buried in a private ceremony after a long funeral procession skirting the Philippine capital’s gleaming business towers and teeming shantytowns.
Cory Aquino - Hero of Philippines Democracy!
With a national holiday called as part of 10 days of official mourning, thousands of people surrounded her coffin as it left Manila Cathedral following a mass just before noon draped in the national flag.
Eight police officers in full dress uniform served as pallbearers, carrying the casket to a flat-bed truck festooned with yellow and white flowers.
By mid-afternoon, a police
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