While the necrological mass was being held inside the Manila Cathedral, the flatbed truck that would bring former President Cory Aquino to her final resting place was parked in front of the church. 

The flatbed was carpeted with white orchids and yellow stargazers. Kris Aquino had related in an interview that her Tita Tessie dreamt of their late father Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino asking her to give stargazers to their mom at the time she was ailing.

In the necrological service for Pres. Cory last Tuesday, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said in his eulogy, "Utang namin sa iyo ang lahat ng tinatamasa naming kalayaan ngayon."

Back then, Lim was one of the police officers who helped President Cory during the EDSA Revolution in 1986.

Former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman  asked the public to participate in the "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" campaign for President Cory weeks before Cory died last August 1.

She said in a TV interview that it was a way of showing respect to the then ailing  President for bringing back democracy to our country.

In his eulogy for the late President Cory Aquino, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay acknowledged all that she stood for:  

"Ang inyong tinig ang aming sandigan, ang inyong katapangan ang aming lakas, ang inyong prinsipyo ang naging haligi."

(Clockwise from left) Senators Mar Roxas and Manny Villar, and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando attended the requiem mass for Pres. Cory at the Manila Cathedral.

These three gentlemen have already declared their intention to run for presidency in the coming 2010 election.

President Cory's former socio-economic planning secretary Solita "Mareng Winnie" Monsod (right) said in an interview that the late president's main agenda during her term was to build democratic institutions in our country.

She and husband Christian Monsod (left) joined the former cabinet members of President Aquino who attended the requiem mass yesterday.

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta broke protocol when he came to Manila to attend the funeral of Pres. Cory.  Diplomats said it was not proper for a head of state to do so, given the fact that it was not a state funeral.

President Ramos-Horta explained that Cory Aquino had inspired him greatly in leading his country.

When the funeral mass was about to end, police troops started lining in front of the Manila Cathedral (below), while police officers practised how they were going to carry Pres. Cory's coffin down to the flower-laden truck.

President Cory's children—Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, Maria Elena "Ballsy" Aquino-Cruz, Aurora Corazon "Pinky" Aquino-Abellada, Victoria Eliza "Viel" Aquino-Dee, and Kristina Bernadette Aquino- Yap, more popularly known as actress-TV host Kris Aquino—rode in a coaster with their spouses and children.

With them was the family's close friend, Bishop Socrates Villegas, who cherished the relationship he had built with Cory.

At the requiem mass yesterday, Bishop Villegas stated, "We who are still here on earth are not ready to say goodbye. We will never meet a woman as great as you for a very long time. We will miss you."

Makati Representative Teddy Locsin recalled the lessons he learned from the former president, with whom he worked as her press secretary and speech writer.

In his eulogy for his former boss, he related, "I did not notice that I was doing right by serving a woman who never did wrong. I am not sure how to take this moral self-discovery. It is so unlike myself. But if it will bring me before her again, I am happy."

In an interview during her mother's wake, Kris Aquino said that the gap between Pres. Cory and former senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta had been mended.

Pres. Cory had a political rift with the sister of her slain husband Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino.

It took eight hours to bring Cory Aquino's coffin from the Manila Cathedral to Manila Memorial Park.  The Aquino family left Manila at past 11:00 a.m. and arrived in Parañaque minutes before 8:00 p.m.

Throughout the funeral procession, the coffin of Pres. Cory was guarded by four uniformed men, each representing the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Navy, and Philippine Air Force.

These men, who endured the rain, standing upright in military fashion, and probably even hunger, were Army Pfc. Antonio Cadiente, Airman Second Class Gener Laguindan, Navy Petty Officer 3 Edgardo Rodriguez and Police Officer 1 Danilo Maalab.