Thousands of Filipinos turned to the Internet to pay their last respects and mourn the passing of former Philippine President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, who was buried Wednesday at the Manila Memorial Park.
Filipinos scattered across the globe, as well as the Philippines, who were unable to join the masses that witnessed the funeral cortege of former President Cory Aquino turned to social networking networks, blogs and microblogging applications to express their grief. The beloved politician was widely considered an icon of democracy in the Philippines, having led the "People Power" movement that ousted former leader Ferdinand Marcos.
The funeral cortege drew an unprecedented crowd, estimated to have reached the tens of thousands, to the main thoroughfares of Metro Manila to honor Aquino who succumbed to colon cancer Aug. 1.
Filipinos abroad turned to Facebook and other social networking sites to post tributes and notes, while those who attended the wake kept friends updated through Twitter and Plurk, according to local news site Inquirer.net.
Online forums and video-sharing site YouTube, also reportedly experienced a significant spike in visits, following the news of the leader's death. Online users scrambled to view and upload past TV interviews, video clips, and the historic Edsa I People Power Revolution against Marcos' dictatorship regime.
A Filipino businessman even set up a "virtual wake" for Aquino on Facebook. JJ Soriano, who previously handled youth-oriented projects during Aquino's presidency, created the Facebook "virtual wake" to allow members worldwide to offer prayers, a report from local newspaper Philippine Star said.
Joel D. Pinaroc is a Filipino freelance IT writer currently based in Saudi Arabia.
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