MANILA, Philippines?FOR LEADING THE COUNTRY?S REturn to democracy, former President Cory Aquino deserves the ?everlasting accolade and eternal gratitude? of the Filipino people, former President Fidel V. Ramos said at the healing Mass tuesday for the ailing Aquino at the Greenbelt chapel in Makati.

?The Filipino people owe Ms Aquino an eternal debt of gratitude, and she deserves the people?s everlasting accolade. We wish her well and we hope that she can get over this crisis,? said Ramos, Aquino?s military chief of staff and defense secretary who succeeded her to the presidency in 1992.

Spokesperson Deedee Siytangco yesterday said Aquino was in stable condition and has been eating some fruit.

She said the former president took communion during a Mass officiated by her confidante, Fr. Catalino Arevalo, in her room at the Makati Medical Center on Sunday.

Aquino, 76, was brought to the MMC on June 25 for weakness and loss of appetite. She was diagnosed with colon cancer early last year.

At the Greenbelt chapel Mass, Ramos made an offering of a replica of the image of Our Lady of Fatima which he held during the four-day People Power revolution in 1986, or Edsa I, that ended the Marcos dictatorship and swept Aquino into power.

Meanwhile, Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., a son of the late dictator, tuesday released a statement on Aquino on behalf of his family.

?With the rest of the nation, my family and I have watched with sadness the serious turn in President Corazon Aquino?s health condition. Being a former President of the Republic, her ordeal is also the nation?s. We want to convey to her and her family our sincere hope and prayers for her safe recovery,? the statement said. Fe Zamora