IT WAS in 1983 when I first met Tita Cory at her home in Times Street. She was newly widowed. In black. Simple. Then Mr & Ms publisher Eugenia Apostol commissioned me to cover those rallies. Captains of industry and high society figures appeared in the crowd and in my photographs that, I was to learn later, upset the Malacañang tenants. Rallies became a social event, with the widow in yellow in the lead, along with other prominent figures in the protest movement.

During those rallies, I would walk backwards so I could easily swing my camera while watching Tita Cory through the corner of my eyes. She was a fantastic subject. In time, I became a familiar face. She?d acknowledge me with a smile and a nod, which I?d return. In Baguio, there was a huge spotlight behind her and I clicked the shutter when the light made a complete halo around her head. That photo landed on Mr & Ms?s cover.

Many, many years later, on Dec. 16, 1986, Tita Cory gave a Christmas party for the Philippine media at Malacañang?s Social Hall. Then I saw Tita Cory coming my way. She gave me a hug and said: ?I am happy you could make it tonight.? I was kilig to the bones [elated] and my colleagues applauded the moment. I felt on top of the world.

When she was no longer president and was holding office at the Cojuangco Building, she sent for me. She had read my article in the Inquirer about a boy suffering from subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), which is a complication of measles that afflicts mostly male children. She told me that she wanted to thank the heavens because ?yesterday, Joshua (her grandson from youngest daughter Kris) was run over by their own huge vehicle and miraculously, had no broken bones from the incident.? As a gesture of appreciation that nothing serious had happened to her grandson, Tita Cory gave me a P40,000 check for the SSPE fund. That was how compassionate she was. I couldn?t thank her enough. ?

?I?d like a copy of this, please?
By O?lola Ann Zamora

IT was a summer of massive protests. Then at around two in the afternoon, Tita Eggie Apostol, Mr & Ms publisher, and Tita Cory walked into the magazine?s library and photo morgue, which was then on the 2nd floor of the Citytrust Building in Edsa, Mandaluyong City.

Tita Eggie was giving her a tour. ?Here, we have the Manila Times photos from 1939 to1972 ? 526,000 plus. This is O?lola, my librarian.? Tita Cory wanted to see Ninoy?s files, our publisher told me. So I handed her all seven brown envelopes containing the photographs of the late senator from the time he was a Manila Times reporter up to his stint in the Senate.

Tita Cory held the wedding picture, laughing, ?Look, we lost weight here,? she said. She found one where Ninoy was photographed with the late President Ramon Magsaysay and Hukbalahap leader Luis Taruc.

?I?d like to have a copy of this,? she told me. For the next half hour or so, she looked at the photos one by one. Then she turned to me and said: ?Iha, what?s your name again?? I replied, ?O?lola, po.? She said, ?Ang unique naman. Gusto ko sanang magpakopya nito [I?d like to have these copied],? she said, pointing at the pile of pictures to her right. ?Hiramin ko na lang kaya? (Or should I just borrow them?) I?ll return them when I?m done.? Normally, we don?t allow photographs to be taken out of the morgue, but we made an exception this time.

A month later, she was back at Mr. & Ms. Publishing again and returned the borrowed photos. She told me she?d like to come again to look at our other photos, not just of Ninoy. I assured her the collection is ready anytime. But she never made it back to the library. Well, who cares? She made it to Malacañang. ?

How Cory Played Matchmaker to Ninoy?s ?tuta?
By Rogelio Constantino Medina

KIYOSHI Wakamiya, a Japanese freelance journalist, first met former senator Benigno Aquino on Oct. 28, 1980, in Harvard University in Massachusetts, where Ninoy was in exile and a fellow of the Center for International Affairs in Harvard.

Wakamiya, who interviewed Ninoy for Playboy Magazine, was impressed by the senator?s ?smart and charming personality.? He would later bring Ninoy the two Akita puppies promised him by former Japan congressman Shintaro Ishihara. Ninoy named the male dog ?Waka? and the female one ?Miya.? Miya went missing soon after, while Cory gave away Waka to a friend before her and the Aquino children left for Manila after Ninoy was shot.

Wakamiya became the president of Atom (August Twenty-One Movement) and NAM (Ninoy Aquino Movement) in Japan, and was active in protest rallies against the Marcos regime. He also wrote a book, ?Kokusai Ro-nin: Putang Ina Mo? (International Jobless Samurai: Ordinary Life) that focuses on Ninoy Aquino as a ?real boss who?s doing a great job making history.?

On Feb. 27, 1986, Wakamiya and Ishihara paid a visit to Cory at the Cojuangco & Sons building in Makati City. When President Aquino saw him, Wakamiya recalled, she requested her son Noynoy to take him to a barber shop for a haircut. ?My hair [was] very long,? Wakamiya explained. Cory would later ask Wakamiya why he didn?t have a girlfriend, and encouraged him to get married.

Shortly after, Wakamiya met the pretty Lulu Sanchez. Recalled Lulu: ?I first met Mr. Wakamiya at a party hosted by Senator Aquino?s younger brother Paul, for whom I was working at a non-life insurance brokerage.?

Lulu and Kiyoshi has their first dinner date sometime in September 1988 at the Manila Hotel?s Cowrie Grille. At their wedding on June 5, 1989, President Aquino stood as principal sponsor, along with Ninoy?s mother, Aurora Aquino, and others. Their Ninang Cory later gave Wakamiya one painting and their daughter Donna, another one, Lulu said.

On July 4 this year, Wakamiya visited the ailing Cory at the Makati Medical Center and brought her a basket of peaches and a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Shintaro Ishihara. Said Wakamiya: ?I gave them to Manolo Abellada, Pinky?s hubby. Later that day, Viel called me up to say that her mom ate a peach. I almost cried.? Wakamiya and his wife were in South America when Cory passed on. They immediately arranged to leave for Manila. At the Manila Memorial Park, Wakamiya, the self-confessed ?tuta? (lapdog) of Ninoy, burst into tears as he hugged Margie Juico, Cory?s former appointments secretary. ?It?s difficult to accept that she is no longer with us,? he said. ?