More than 100,000 mourners braving heavy rain thronged central Manila today to honour former president Corazon Aquino, heroine of the Philippines' 1986 people power movement, who died last week of cancer.
Masses in Aquino's memory were celebrated in Catholic churches throughout the country, with 1,000 officials, diplomats and business figures attending the largest in Manila's 400-year-old cathedral.
Aquino's youngest daughter, Kristina Bernadette Yap, a film and television star more popularly known as Kris Aquino, thanked those attending.
"The last words Mom expressed to each of us were 'Take care of each other,'" she said.
"I know that those words weren't meant just for our family, but for all of us as a nation. In the way that all of you have been thanking us for sharing Mom with you, our Mom never failed to thank each of us."
Mrs Aquino is to be buried next to her husband, Benigno, whose assassination in 1983 catapulted her to the national stage.
Three years later, over a million people poured into the streets to support troops who were backed by Mrs Aquino and had revolted against dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos and his family fled into exile and Aquino held the presidency until 1992.
Among those paying respects to Aquino was East Timor leader Jose Ramos-Horta. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came straight to the cathedral from the airport on her return from a visit to the United States.
In the cathedral grounds, mourners clad in yellow - the colour associated with Mrs Aquino and the 1986 revolution - watched a live broadcast of the Mass on two giant screens.
Police said a procession extending over two km (one mile) - more than 100,000 people - later filed slowly behind Aquino's cortege as it wound its way to the cemetery.
Yesterday, Marcos's son, Ferdinand Jr., and daughter, Imee, joined the wake. Their mother, Imelda Marcos, has also expressed her sorrow at Aquino's death.
World leaders, including the Pope, US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sent messages of sympathy.
The government has announced a 10-day period of mourning, financial markets were closed and a public holiday was declared on Wednesday.
Reuters