YELLOW, REDEFINED

by JUEVEL ANTE LEONES*

Personally, I am not a huge fan of yellow. But because of Spongebob Squarepants, Power Ranger Yellow and of course, the late Maria Corazon 'Cory' Conjuangco Aquino, I could not find any other reason to be fond of yellow.
Ever since when I was younger until now, I rarely wear clothes that are yellow. Aside from the fact that my skin tone does not blend with yellow, since I am blessed with dark complexion, I also feel like a sickling upon wearing garments dominated by yellow.

So, with curiosity I asked my mom how come she is not into yellow clothing as well when it is presumed that her generation seemed to like the 'yellow fever' brought by former President Cory Aquino.

It was not one of those typical conversations I had with my mom. For we usually talk about things that are not within politics. And out of the blue my mother instantly toured me into her memory lane when I was not born yet and people were clamoring for a change in the government led by the tyrant Ferdinand Marcos.

My mother recalls, when was six months pregnant of me and 'People Power Revolution' was brewing, and hordes of different groups from business, religious, armed forces and more of the masses began to flock at EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue), yellow has become the new black or color of protest against the dictatorship of Marcos. And soon people were wearing yellow that soon became Cory's trademark color.

Also, my mom adds, even after Tita Cory (as she was affectionately called by the people) was elected as the new and the first female president in Asia, the mass had been throwing confetti here in Davao City as a sign that the Dabawenyos,together with the rest of Juan dela Cruz welcomes this 'Mother of Democracy'. Mom recollects that during Fridays, the throwing of yellow confetti continued for over a year of Aquino's first year of installation as the president, and referring as "Yellow Fridays."

However, that brief discussion ended abruptly and I was able to extract some fancy tidbits about how Cory's life was colorful, figuratively speaking.

So, months after the Aquinos made it known to the public that Cory is suffering from colon cancer and was willing to undergo the painful chemotherapy, more Filipinos were gathered to pray to God for Cory's strength to pass the pain of the said treatment and that she hastily recovers. Consequently, series of Catholic and interfaith masses were initiated all throughout the country for Cory speedy recovery. Soon, the 'yellow fever' begins and even those of different political beliefs converge in a common prayer --- Cory's health.

However, there were misleading rumors that spread days before August 1 that Cory is dead. Even if that message was fake, still I was saddened by the misinformation. Although the death of Cory was anticipated, Cory's death was inevitable upon knowing that she was afflicted by an advance colon cancer,and came too soon on the 1st of August, it is a big loss to the most of us. It is like losing a mother and that Saturday seems like one of the gloomiest day in the country.

Notwithstanding the unkind weather on the 5th of August, nearly 300,000 Filipinos joined the procession to Cory's resting place that lasted for almost eight hours. Nothing compared to that of Ninoy's crowd that reached closely to two million in attendace. With this act shown by the people, only shows how the public truly loved this couple.

But I remember during her interview with a local show, Cory admits that yellow was not even her favorite color then. This statement I observed to be true for during her funeral procession, I could not spot any member of her immediate family to have wore yellow.

From there on I came upon a realization, Cory's existence as a person after her husband's death caused the people to unite, in the verge of tyranny, in order to enjoy the gift of freedom and even in her death, she still unified the people because of the great contribution as “Mother of Democracy.”

Also, yellow appealed to me as Cory redefines it as “TRUTH, LOVE and PEACE.” And unlike my favorite yellow fictitious characters Spongebob Squarepants and Power Ranger Yellow, this genuine, real-life heroine made me love yellow in a different perspective. Thank you and we will surely miss you CORY AQUINO!

*A Senior Mass Communication student who fell in love with the “new yellow”