Quezon, Doña Aurora ‘reunited’ at QC shrine

At high noon yesterday, taps was played and honor guards fired three volleys in salute as the remains of Doña Aurora Aragon Quezon was transferred and laid to rest beside the tomb of her husband, the late President Manuel Quezon, at the Quezon Memorial Shrine in Quezon City.

President Arroyo and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. joined the Quezon family descendants Zenaida Avancena and Ricky Quezon Avancena as well as government and local officials at the re-interment ceremony at the Quezon Memorial.

Her remains were exhumed from the Manila North Cemetery where the former First Lady was buried 27 years ago. The remains were then placed in an urn and placed inside a casket draped with the Philippine flag.

A formal turnover of the remains was held at the North Cemetery with Manila Mayor Lito Atienza formally handing over the urn to family members. It was blessed by the Most Reverend Bishop Rolando Tirona of Infanta, Quezon province.

From the North Cemetery, a motorcade brought the remains to the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City, where a Mass was held. From the church, the remains were taken to the Quezon City Memorial Circle, where Mrs. Arroyo and Belmonte led a funeral procession to the shrine.

As tribute to the former First Lady, the President conferred on Doña Aurora the posthumous Order of Gabriela Silang Award before the urn was finally placed inside the mausoleum.

Last Wednesday, she signed Proclamation 836 which directed flags be flown at half-staff on April 28 in Manila, Quezon City, and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon, and in schools named after Doña Aurora as a gesture of respect and bereavement on the occasion of the former First Lady’s 56th death anniversary.

Doña Aurora is recognized as "The Real Catholic Filipina" and "the Mother of the Masses" for her being a devout Catholic and for her love for the simple people, traits that endeared her to the Filipino people.

During the ceremony, the Philippine flag that draped the casket was turned over to Mrs. Avancena after which the urn was carried inside the mausoleum by honor guards followed by the Quezon family and other guests.

The interment ceremonies officially ended after the remains of the former First Lady was placed inside a crypt besides the tomb of her husband, reuniting the remains of the former first couple after 27 years of separation.