Thousands of people pay last respects to late former President Corazon Aquino

Thousands of people pay last respects to late former President Corazon Aquino. Thousands of people continued to line up at the Manila Cathedral to pay their last respects to the late former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino on Tuesday morning.

A one-kilometer line, passing three streets leading to the cathedral, of supporters who woke up early to pay their last respects to the former president formed as soon as organizers reopened the public viewing of the Aquino's remains at 7 a.m. Police inspections were put up in Anda, Urdaneta and Real streets. Organizers estimate that more than 100,000 people have showed up at the cathedral since Mrs. Aquino was transferred there from the La Salle-Greenhills in San Juan City on Monday.

Superintendent Pablo Balagtas of the Manila Police District said they expect more people to troop to the cathedral as Mrs. Aquino's interment nears. The former president will be put next to her husband, national hero Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, at the Manila Memoral Park in Parañaque City on Wednesday afternoon.

Among the early supporters at the cathedral was former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who flew straight from New York to pay his last respects to the former president. "Gratitude for the services she had rendered our country. She had a purity of heart, the sincerity of purpose... made perfect by her humility and deep spirituality," Davide said.

"In life she was with us. In death she should be more with us." Davide was one of the 50 members of the Constitutional Commission formed by Mrs. Aquino. The late president also appointed Davide as chairman of the Commission on Elections in 1989 and was also appointed head of a presidential fact-finding body to investigate the December 1989 coup. Not a picky eater Rorina Navales, Mrs. Aquino's cook for 8 years, told ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda that she cannot imagine cooking for any other employer. She said Mrs. Aquino was the kindest employer she had.

"Wala po akong masasabi. Mabuti po siyang amo. Mabait po talaga si ma'am," Navales said as she tries to keep back her tears during the morning news program. She said whenever a household helper commits a mistake, Mrs. Aquino would just say, "Ay ikaw talaga." She said Mrs. Aquino's kitchen masterpiece was chicken liver pâté, which is also the late president's favorite. She said Mrs. Aquino would cook it during family get-togethers, as a gift to friends and for her own consumption. Navales said Mrs. Aquino starts her day with coffee and pandesal, and chicken liver pâté, if available.

After breakfast, she said the former president returns to her bedroom to read newspaper and pray the Rosary before preparing to go to work. She said Mrs. Aquino is not a picky eater and did not ask for her to cook a specific dish in the last 8 years.

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