Nearly nine years after her death, late president Corazon “Cory” Aquino continues to be remembered for her contributions to the country and to her family. Kris Aquino shared touching tributes to her mother, who succumbed to cancer in 2009 and would have been 85 today.
Kris is the youngest of five children and was only 12 years old when her father, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was assassinated on the tarmac of the Manila International Airport in 1983. Following Ninoy’s death, Cory would go on to raise her children single-handedly and take an active role in the fight against the authoritarian Marcos regime. She was inaugurated as the country’s first female President in 1986.
In remembering her mom, the Queen of All Media shared the photo of an Italian designer watch. The Bulgari piece had an understated elegance with its black face, gold bezel and silver strap.
“I wanted to give my Mom something to mark my success then—nothing flashy that she wouldn’t wear but something I felt had meaning and was SPECIAL,” wrote Kris, who said that she bought the watch for her mom in October 2002 when she was “earning okay money” and had just renewed a contract with ABS-CBN.
At the time, she was a host of multiple shows and just ended her stint as a talk show host in “Today with Kris Aquino” the year before.
“It was important to me to pay tribute to her because she always put me first,” explained Kris.
Cory had colorectal cancer, which Kris says she fought hard to the end “because her children lost their dad instantly, by a dictator’s assassin’s gunshot.”
“Her children deserved the time to prepare themselves to be able to let her go—regardless of how painful the operations and treatments were,” she recalled.
The watch would be one of the only pieces of jewelry her mom would wear while confined in the hospital.
Looking at the watch, “I am humbled—because I was loved unconditionally, in my totality,” said Kris.
She also shared family pictures: one of her mom and siblings before she was born, and one with her.
“The first was when their existence was still black and white because I wasn’t born yet,” Kris quipped.
In the second photo with her, where she and her sisters appeared to be blowing candles on a birthday cake, she noted, “Her life was now full of color because look who’s already in the picture?”
She also pointed out how much her son Bimby took after her. “Bimb’s really a time traveler—sobrang magkamukha talaga kami (We look so alike).”
And of course, she couldn’t help but gush, “Mom was really slim and so PRETTY.” /ra
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