EDITORIAL - Today we decide what happens in 2010

Former president Corazon Aquino, one of the most beloved leaders this country ever had and one of the most respected the world has ever seen, will be buried today in what is expected to be one of the most well-attended funerals ever.

The day has been declared a national non-working holiday to allow Filipinos the chance to mourn and pay their last respects to Aquino, personally if they can, or symbolically and in spirit wherever they are in the country.

But today will not just be a day of great sadness or of hopeful joy, depending on how each individual relates to and accepts the reality of death. It will also be a day not unlike a remedial test in school.

Like a remedial test, today will determine whether this nation can make the grade or not. Today is the second chance we all have been waiting for — that extremely rare miracle of a bonus shot that does not present itself to everybody to redeem themselves.

We ache for redemption because the miracle of Edsa in 1986 is all but a wistful memory. We botched our greatest opportunity for greatness by failing to be consistent with what we have been given then, sliding instead back into the pit we have sunk prior to that event.

Yet quite predictably, Aquino, in one final legacy to the nation, has bequeathed us this one final chance to heal, to reunite, and to mature and learn, in a manner that is civil, peaceful and respectful.

Today is not just about sending Aquino to her final resting place. Today she gathered the whole nation to determine for themselves whether they have learned their lessons and are ready for the challenge of 2010.

How we behave during the burial and how we walk away from it will form the basis for our grade as a nation. Today we will know whether 2010 and the future can be won for the Filipino people, or whether we lose again, in which case there will be no other remedial test.