MANILA, Philippines—Maria “Doña Mary” Marcelo Ejercito died quietly in her hospital bed Tuesday afternoon, her hand clasped tightly by her most famous son, former President Joseph Estrada, whose rise and fall from power she had lived long enough to see.

She was 103.

A “pillar of strength” for her family, Doña Mary succumbed to a host of ailments arising from old age in her room at San Juan Medical Center in San Juan City. She had been confined in the hospital since last year, attached to a respirator.

She was surrounded by her closest family members, including Estrada who seemed the most devastated by her death, her granddaughter Jackie Ejercito-Lopez said.

“I couldn’t talk to him. I [couldn’t bring myself] to talk to him,” Jackie said.

Estrada held his mother’s hand tightly and gave her a last kiss, she said.

Palace condolence

Malacañang Tuesday night expressed condolences to Estrada.

“The grand lady exemplified grace, filial and abiding love and affection to her family and loved ones, especially to the former President,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said in a statement.

“Doña Mary will remain an inspiration to many and will deservedly be remembered far into the future. We pray for the eternal repose of her soul.”

Doña Mary’s remains will be brought to the St. Joseph Chapel to the left of the 112-year-old St. John the Baptist Parish, or the Pinaglabanan Church. She used to go to Mass with her children at the simple chapel near her old house, which was opened by Estrada on June 29, 1998, a few weeks after he was elected.

Doña Mary died of cardiopulmonary arrest as a result of the failure of her internal organs, particularly her kidneys, which shut down four days ago, her physician, Dr. Regina Socorro Bagsic, said.

“She was unconscious the whole time. The last time she could communicate was a year ago before she was put on the respirator,” Bagsic said.

But she said there were days when Doña Mary looked better and more conscious of her surroundings. “Sometimes, she was more awake and conscious, especially when (Estrada) was around,” she told reporters.

10 children

“She was a pillar of strength,” Pilarica Ejercito, Estrada’s elder sister, said of their mother.

Doña Mary had 10 children—Pilarica, Emilio Jr., Paul, Pat, Antonio, Connie (deceased), Marita, Joseph, George (deceased) and Jessie.

Pilarica, Marita, Pat, Jessie, Paul and Joseph were at their mother’s side when she died, said Estrada’s son, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito. Her grandchildren were also present, he said.

JV said his grandmother was a “very strong person.”

“No matter the obstacles the family faced, she was strong. She held the family together,” he said.

She would have turned 104 in May, JV said. “But she’s only human, her body gave way. And (while she was in hospital) we tried to keep from her the family’s lowest moment.”

That was in 2001, JV said, alluding to his father’s impeachment and eventual ouster as president after the peaceful, so-called “people power” uprising on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue).

Estrada was later placed under house arrest in his resthouse in Tanay, Rizal, tried on plunder charges and convicted by the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would then pardon him.

During his six-year trial, Estrada had frequently asked the Sandiganbayan for furloughs so he could be with his mother on her birthdays and other special occasions, or when her condition had worsened.

‘Funny and lively’

Jackie recalled her grandmother as being funny and lively. “There was always life when she was around,” she said.

She last talked to Doña Mary a year ago. “She was actually talking to my child. She said things like, ‘Ang laki-laki mo na! (How big you’ve grown!)’”

“She was a very caring mother and grandmother. The whole family right now is very, very sad, but there’s also a feeling of relief,” JV said. “Finally, her suffering is over.”

Doña Mary married Emilio Ejercito, a Chicago-educated engineer, in 1926 and they had 10 children. Emilio died in 1978 at the age of 79.

The daughter of Paulino and Patrocino Marcelo, Doña Mary studied at the Colegio de Sta. Rosa in Manila and took up pastry-making and baking in Europe and the United States.

In May 2005, she marked her 100th year with a lavish celebration at the Fiesta Pavilion of Manila Hotel. More than 800 guests, including some 100 members of the Ejercito family spanning four generations, attended.

Last year, Estrada celebrated his mother’s 103rd birthday at San Juan Medical Center, for the first time after he was granted presidential pardon in October 2007.

Last month, Estrada was unable to attend an anti-Charter change rally scheduled on Ayala Avenue in Makati City after learning that Doña Mary was in critical condition.

Straight to his room

Grieving the death of his mother Tuesday, Estrada holed up in his room in his residence at Polk Street in Greenhills, San Juan, according to his media liaison officer Angel Gonong.

The former President went straight to his room, accompanied by his wife Loi Ejercito, he said.

“It is difficult to talk to him right now. He is just in his room,” Gonong told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

But in a message relayed by Doña Mary’s youngest son Jessie, the former president asked friends planning to bring flowers to instead give cash donations to the foundations supported by their mother, like the Damas de Manila, which she helped establish. With reports from Edson Tandoc and Inquirer Research