MARY JOSEPHINE S.

NAGPACAN CORY NG EDSA

September 17, 2011. This is the day I have been waiting for and so I woke up early and helped my mother prepare our breakfast. After eating breakfast, my mother and I boarded a jeepney that would transport us to SM North EDSA where a Musicale will be held about the life of former President Corazon Aquino after the death of her husband, the widely renowned hero, Benigno Ninoy Aquino. While I was in the theatre, I felt very glad I was given the opportunity to watch this kind of literary art piece. It is focused on sharing to the youth the events that has transpired long before most of us were born, events that marked our history as Filipinos. It also gave me an idea of the life of former President Corazon Aquino before she was elected as a President of the Philippines and before she was known as The Mother of Democracy. I discovered that former President Corazon Aquino was just an ordinary housewife before her husband, the late Sen. Benigno Ninoy Aquino, died. Ninoys death ignited the hunger of the whole nation for freedom and equality which resulted from the 20-year dictatorship of the Marcos regime. This hunger for freedom and equality resulted to the very first People Power in EDSA and to the ouster of Marcos as President. This event placed Cory Aquino as the new President of the Republic and one of the famous features of her Government is the enactment of our present Constitution which ensured the Filipinos that it would not be violated again in the same way as Marcos did. One of the things that really love about former President Corazon Aquino is that she is a sincere Catholic and a shy and self-styled "simple housewife," she inspired trust, devotion and humbleness. Even top American policy makers regarded her as inexperienced and naive. Yet in the great and surprising turn of events leading up to Marcos's ouster she displayed unexpected smartness and determination. As she said in one of her interviews, "The only thing I can really offer the Filipino people is my sincerity". She is indeed a woman of example, not only to our country but also to all other countries. This musicale definitely made it easy for its viewers to understand the democratic history of our country most especially the change of Government from the hated Dictatorship of Marcos to a democratic and Presidential form of Government headed by former President Corazon Aquino. The story was associated with songs which intensified the emotions in each scene which definitely made it more appealing to us students. All in all, the musicale is a great success for me because it awakened the nationalism in me. I felt very proud to be a Filipino.

MARY JOSEPHINE S. NAGPACAN

When I reached our house, I cannot stop thinking about the musicale and so I decided to tell the story of the musicale to my little brother and sister, even to my mother and father. They told me that I was lucky to learn something from the musicale.