Kris recounts last moments with her dying mother

Grief-stricken Kris Aquino, youngest daughter of former President Corazon Aquino, recounted Sunday the family's final days with her mother as she battled colon cancer at the Makati Medical Center, detailing significant moments from June 25 to the early morning of Aug. 1 when she died.

Her voice cracking and tears flowing, Kris recalled during the TV program ''The Buzz'', which was broadcast live from the De La Salle Greenhills gymnasium, how she and her siblings decided to spend time with their dying mother at the hospital.

Kris had earlier taken a leave of absence from her TV-hosting job at ABS-CBN to enable her to be with her ailing mother. Kris recalled that July 8 evokes the most painful memory because it was the first time her mom broke down in pain.

''It's so hard to see your mother cry and yet you can't do anything. She even told me that she wanted to go home, which means she already wants to join God,'' Kris said.

She said that she tried her best not to cry in front of her mother and went inside the bathroom where she poured out her emotions.

On July 18, her elder sister, Pinky, told Kris to go home and stay with her husband James because he was about to leave for Taiwan to be with the Philippine basketball team, but Kris decided to stay with her mother until her last breath.

July 22: Her mother's pain became worse. Doctors inserted a catheter. When asked what she wanted, Mrs. Aquino reportedly answered, ''Family''.

Kris then called her siblings, and they promised to take care of each other, and that she will always be with her brother Noynoy (Senator Benigno Aquino III). They kept on praying, but then their mom pleaded them to stop it.

July 23: Kris signed the hospital papers that they have to stop giving life support to her mother because she already had a terminal case. She then prayed using her mom's rosary and asked God to give her the right decision and pleaded God to embrace her mom.

July 24: The family allowed their closest friends to visit her mother.

July 25: Her aunt, Tessie Aquino Oreta, told her that she dreamt of her brother Ninoy and told her to bring stargazer flowers to Mrs. Aquino, which she did.

July 27 to 29: Former President Joseph Estrada visited her mother. Although Estrada later told the press that he only managed to talk to Kris and Noynoy, Kris said that they allowed Estrada in her mother's room. She sincerely thanked him because she said that Estrada had quietly been good to her mom.

Kris said Estrada told the media that he was not allowed to see the former president in order not to put political color on the visit.

By July 30, Kris and her siblings told their mother how much they loved her and that they've already talked that they are ready to set her free.

''We told mom that we are so guilty that we're letting her suffer a lot. That is why we've decided that we'll let her join dad (Ninoy), and promised her that we will take care of each other,'' Kris recalled.

The day after, the former president told them that she saw her late husband who was offering her to come with him in the afterlife. Kris said it was the first time she saw her mom smile again.

On July 31, her mother's vital signs fluctuated wildly starting at 11 a.m. There's was a mass offered at 4 p.m., but Kris decided not to leave her mom. At 2 a.m. on Aug. 1, her mother woke them up and they started praying the rosary.

After the reciting sorrowful mystery at 3:18 a.m., Mrs. Aquino drew her last breath.

Kris said she saw a sign that her mother was already resting in peace when the Heritage staff put Stargazers flowers over her mother's casket. It was the time she celebrated her mom's life in heaven and vowed that she will continue her mother's faith and devotion to Mama Mary.

She likewise recalled that a top official offered them to hold the wake in Malacañang, but she refused, saying ''Now she's dead, you want to give her honor, but when she was still alive, you want her powerless.''

That person whom Kris did not name also said that they had to remove her mother's security details she identified as Mel and Cris allegedly for accounting purposes. She said the security details took care of her mother when she became a private citizen.

Kris also thanked the Marcoses for praying for her mother, saying she felt the sincerity of their prayers.