Filipinos form long queues to pay last respects to Cory

(UPDATE 3:24 p.m.) Friends, relatives and supporters formed long queues at the wake of former President Corazon Aquino at the La Salle Greenhills campus in Mandaluyong City Sunday. Mrs. Aquino, 76, died before dawn Saturday at the Makati Medical Center after a long bout with colon cancer. Radio dzBB’s Rowena Salvacion reported that hundreds of people waited in line for a chance to enter the school gymnasium and get a glimpse of Mrs. Aquino’s remains. As of 7:50 a.m., less than an hour after the gymnasium was opened for the public viewing, the queue had already reached the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) office at Columbia Tower along Ortigas Avenue. Other visitors had to park their vehicles at the Virra Mall shopping complex and walk a few hundred meters to the La Salle Greenhills campus. La Salle Greenhills security personnel had to limit the number of people who could enter the gymnasium to one batch at a time. On Monday, the remains of Mrs. Aquino will be brought to the Manila Cathedral, where she will lie in state until the funeral on Wednesday, according to an advisory from the Aquino family: The presidential cortege will leave La Salle Greenhills at 11 a.m. and take the following route: Ortigas to EDSA, turn right at Ayala Avenue, turn left at Buendia Avenue, turn right at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), turn left at Quirino Avenue, turn right at Roxas Blvd., and turn right to Intramuros. Honor guard ceremonies will be done before the cortege leaves La Salle Greenhills and before entering the Manila Cathedral, the advisory said. Mrs. Aquino’s remains will be opened to public viewing from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. except during the mass at 8 p.m. On August 4, Tuesday, public viewing will be from 7 a.m. to 12 noon. This will be followed by a Mass from 12 noon to 1 p.m. and necrological services from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Another mass will be held at 8 p.m. and public viewing will resume from 8 p.m. To 4 a.m. Wednesday. - with a report from Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV