“No hero is mortal till he dies.” — W. H. Auden

The Filipino people have been desperately in search of heroes to love, to adore, and to idolize towards filling up a vacuum in the national life in their constant search for fulfillment.

That is why, very often, Filipinos come up with their heroes, both living and dead, according to their own definition and perception of the term “hero or heroine.”

However, Bertolt Brecht, “The Life of Galileo”, written during the height of Nazism, immortalized the conversation between Andrea who said that “Unhappy the land that has no heroes” to which Galileo replied that “No. Unhappy the land that needs heroes.”

Thus, ever since she succumbed to lingering illness on August 1, 2009, to being finally laid to rest last Wednesday, August 5, Filipinos from all walks of life braved the heat, the rain and the traffic to condole with and view the remains of former President Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco Aquino in an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy and loyalty worthy of a hero.

Throughout the week, all kinds of proposals, ideas, and suggestions have been floated that are reminiscent of the post-Senator Ninoy Aquino funeral, such as, a National Day for Cory, a monument, renaming a street Cory Avenue, a commemorative stamp, perhaps an airport, and other rather mundane suggestions.

Alas, after the euphoria shall have subsided, the critiques, the nitpicking, and the reality will tend to temper and moderate the frenzy and enthusiasm of her death from friends and supporters who loved and adored President Cory Aquino as a woman, mother, religious devotee, and leader.

Today, in our perennial search for heroes, we place any conquering hero or heroine on a pedestal whether it be President Cory as a freedom fighter against tyranny, or as an icon in the restoration of democracy, or the boxing phenomenon, Manny Pacquiao, or the controversial nominees as National Artists.

They are all heroes in the eyes of the beholder.

When all is said and done, had she been alive, President Corazon Aquino would have blushed at the sincere and mammoth display of emotions, prayers and adulation from thousands of Filipinos, particularly the so-called “masa."

Be that as it may, President Corazon Aquino who epitomized honesty, integrity, forthrightness, courage, humility and feminity can also be made an icon for reconciliation, unity and national solidarity instead of the incipient hostility being manifested by the hardliners and opportunists who do not want to see peace and prosperity in our time.

Else, we would not want to give credence to what F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that “show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.”

You be the judge.