MANILA, Philippines—There’s no stopping President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from attending Wednesday’s funeral of former President Corazon Aquino.

The woman who was once asked by Aquino to step down will show up at Manila Cathedral, needing no “invitation” to pay her last respects to the late president.

The President’s chartered flight from San Francisco, California, is expected to land at Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 3 a.m. Wednesday, cutting short her state visit to the United States.

“Let us avoid desecrating this act of final respect for President Cory by injecting politics,” said Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

“If you go to a wake, it’s not upon invitation. You go there out of your free will, your own volition, to pay your respects and to extend your sympathies and prayers to the family,” Bello said.

Ms Arroyo’s attendance will be seen in light of her political conflict with Aquino, an erstwhile supporter who later demanded the President’s resignation amid accusations of election fraud and massive corruption.

The relationship appeared so strained that Aquino’s family refused Malacañang’s offer of a state funeral and seemed cool to the idea of seeing Ms Arroyo at the wake or funeral.

Bello said he was not sure if Ms Arroyo would attend the funeral at Manila Memorial Park. What was certain, though, was Ms Arroyo’s paying her last respects to Aquino, whom the official described as “one of the greatest presidents in the world.”

Nobody designated yet

Aquino’s son, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, said the family had yet to designate someone who would face Ms Arroyo.

“Someone should face the President,” Noynoy said, aware of official protocol. But he said he and his four sisters had not yet decided on it as they were all reluctant to see her.

In New York City, the President declined media requests to give a personal message on the death of Aquino. Her spokespersons, however, scrambled to assure the public of her sincerity in condoling with her family.

“I’ve already given my message,” said an icy Ms Arroyo, who turned her back on reporters and immediately walked toward her black limousine with her husband.

First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was about to give a response when asked for a personal message to the Aquinos when he was cut off by the President herself.

Still, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde was insistent that the President was sincere about her condolences which, he said, was proved by her declaration of a 10-day national mourning for the former leader and her declaring her burial a special nonworking holiday.

“The President will do what she needs to do, I hope we will not put politics into this,” Remonde said.

Coin toss

Senator Aquino joked that the family might resort to a coin toss to select someone to do the job. He doubted if the youngest, Kris, would be the one, citing her emotional state.

It was Kris who had explained that the Aquino family had to turn down the Palace offer to honor the former President with a state funeral.

On national television, the actress-turned-TV host had said that the differences stemmed from a decision by the Arroyo administration to recall two soldiers from her mother’s security detail after she called on Ms Arroyo to step down.

But Bello said both leaders had remained “friends” even if Aquino joined the clamor for Ms Arroyo’s ouster. At the height of the “Hello Garci” wiretapping scandal in 2005, Aquino called on the President to resign over fraud committed in the previous year’s election.

“If there were indeed political differences, I don’t think they allowed these … to erode their personal relations,” he said. He noted that some of Aquino’s relatives were now serving under the Arroyo administration.

“They belonged to opposing political aggrupations, but the friendship was never lost,” he added.

Lupita Kashiwahara, younger sister of Aquino’s late husband Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., is Ms Arroyo’s “personal director.”

Marcoses

The Palace said it was not expecting a hostile reception from the Aquinos when Ms Arroyo comes to the wake. It was reacting to impressions that the Aquino family was more willing to accommodate the Marcoses—with whom the Aquinos had a long-running political feud—than Ms Arroyo.

“It seems to me that if the Aquino family was gracious enough to welcome someone from the Marcos family, then—because they are such well-bred and well-born people—we should expect them to be no less gracious when it comes to welcoming someone like the President,” said Gary Olivar, Ms Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson.

“We cannot think less of them than to expect the utmost graciousness from the family even in this hour of dire loss,” he added.

Olivar said Ms Arroyo, like the rest of the nation, owed to Aquino the country’s return to democracy.

“The gratitude that she feels for President Cory, which should be shared by all of our people, has to do with the fact that because of [her], we’re able to have all the administrations that came into power after Marcos, including the current one under President Arroyo,” he said.

Bello said one lesson that could be derived from Aquino’s leadership was clear: “We should continue having women presidents.”

Sincerity of gestures

Senator Aquino said it was not easy to believe the sincerity of Ms Arroyo’s gestures. He was also skeptical about Malacañang’s declaration of Aug. 5, the funeral of his mother, as a special nonworking holiday.

“Let’s see if that would push through,” he said, stressing that “what we are praying for is the peace of mommy.”

In New York City, Ms Arroyo Monday offered Mass for Aquino on a rain-drenched Sunday morning at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The offering was announced from the pulpit by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, who likewise said the high Mass was meant to celebrate the 41st wedding anniversary of the President and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

The President was expected to leave New York at 4 p.m. on Monday (4 a.m. Tuesday in Manila) and arrive at 3 a.m. Wednesday or just a few hours before Aquino’s burial.

Contrary to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita’s announcement that the San Francisco stopover was just for refueling, Ms Arroyo revealed that she would meet with officials of Silicon Valley companies to sign some business deals.

Her husband said he planned to stay behind in the United States. With a report from Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.