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MANILA: A spokesman for former Philippines president Corazon Aquino said she is "stable, comfortable and conscious".
Mrs Aquino has been in hospital for more than two weeks. She was diagnosed with cancer of the colon last year.
Healing for the Philippines is what the former president is praying for even as she continues to battle cancer.
Margie Penson-Juico, former presidential appointments secretary, Cory Aquino Administration, said: "She said what the country needs right now is healing. Healing for the morality of our leaders, of Filipinos, not healing for herself anymore."
It is this self-sacrifice that prompted friends and former cabinet members to come up with a tribute to the former president.
80 stories have been written about her by people she worked closely with, during a critical time in the country's history when Ninoy Aquino's widow was restoring the institutions of democracy in the Philippines.
Margie Penson-Juico said: "Her leadership was strong even if she was not feisty. But she was courageous and brave and she has inner peace. You don't have to be feisty and fighting all the time.
"She was very serene and tranquil and yet she commanded respect from the people who worked with her and from those she served."
Friends of Mrs Aquino hope that by sharing their personal stories and collections of the former president, they will be able to inspire more Filipinos to do their share for the Philippines.
That is why memorabilia from Mrs Aquino's personal collection has been given a special corner in the former president's school. Missionary sisters who have known her since she was a student hope to motivate young Filipinos to follow her example.
Sister Soledad Hilado, OSB, former president, St. Scholastica's College, said: "It would be wonderful if we have another Cory. I hope with the next elections, we can come up with somebody, maybe in another mould, the same ideals, spirituality and selflessness as Cory."
As Filipinos continue to pray for the former president's speedy recovery, perhaps the best prayer that can be offered to her is one that would help the country heal itself. - CNA/vm
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