Aquino to visit parents’ tombs on eve of All Saints’ Day, says spokesman

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III will visit the tombs of his parents – former President Corazon Aquino and former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. – on the eve of All Saints’ Day, Malacañang announced on Friday.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said there’d be problems posed by the sheer number of people at the Manila Memorial Park if Mr. Aquino, his sisters and their respective families visit on November 1 itself.

“They like to honor the memory of their parents peacefully and quietly. And they felt that October 31 would be the more appropriate time to visit the parents,” Lacierda told reporters during Friday’s news briefing in Malacañang.

Lacierda said the Aquino family’s visit at the cemetery would likely be a private affair.

Mrs. Aquino is revered as the country’s icon of democracy while former Senator Aquino’s martyrdom in 1983 is widely remembered as the end of the dictatorship in 1986.