Kris

I hated Kris.

To me she was the epitome of everything “maarte.” She possibly reinvented the classic kolehiyala “coño” to the more sophisticated modern day caffeine OD’ed “coño” and had been the standard bearer of being the classy spoiled brat of her very opposite mother. Always the black sheep, assumed to be in need of the spotlight.

How judgemental of me.

Today, I saw her as just “Kris.” No insulting adjectives but simply any other “Kris” or “Mary” or “Ann” who has lost a very loving mother. Sure she talked with the same taglish accent that never failed to make me cringe, acted with that flick of her hand as if she’s ready to shun a poor dirty man away, and with that classy exterior for which she was branded as “plastic.”

But I realise that she was just being her. And as I listened to her full recount of their family’s struggle while the former president Cory Aquino was battling an illness, I couldn’t stop the tears as I felt the pain that she went through and the peace knowing that her mother is no longer suffering.

I grieve, not for the loss of a former president, for she has already served well during her term. Not for the loss of a political icon, for she will always be in every kid’s textbooks. But for the loss of someone else’s mother who has always been there in every premier night, who has not missed a chance to say “congratulations, I’m so proud of you,” who has been the beacon of light in her child’s marital trouble, who has been the spiritual channel and good example to all of her children.

She was THE Cory Aquino, but at the end of the day, she was still the simple mother who had not replaced a dear old watch that was the first extravagant gift that Kris was able to buy. It was a cheesy gesture, but if I were the child who gave the most precious unreplaceable watch, I too would cry out of being humbly proud.

She was the loyal defender, saying “grabe naman sila!” while quickly snapping her head to the side clearly signifying “kakampi moko kahit ano pang sabihin nila.”

I envy Kris not for her fame, nor her wealth, but for the ultimate treasure of having Cory as the undaunted mother amidst all the controversies that her daughter brought in the family.

Indeed she has lived a full life. Once she was a daughter, a student, a wife, a mother, a president, a housewife, a friend, an activist, a fighter… and yet after all these have been accomplished, she strips off her yellow clothes, her apron, her glasses and return as one admirable simple woman.

To Kris, yes, I believe as any child believes that the mother will always be proud of what her child has become and will always be there as a source of strength and inspiration.

To Cory, indeed, you deserve all the praises the Filipino people have given. And indeed you deserve all the love that your family has imparted. God bless.



I’m posting this clip which is part 3 of 9 of her recount of those days before her mother’s death. Also this part includes comment against her being OA, debated in this youtube post. This is when I realised how quickly we label people out of our own misplaced ideals.