President Corazon “Cory” Aquino may be the first lay person to have her wake at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila, a bishop said Monday.

“As far as I know, she’s the first lay person to have a wake here,” Balanga, Bataan Bishop Socrates Villegas said in an interview “Not even us (bishops), we are not allowed to have our wake here, only the Archbishop of Manila. But Cory is given that honor,” said Bishop Villegas.

Fr. Genaro Diwa of the Ministry of Liturgical Affairs of the Archdiocese of Manila confirmed Villegas’s revelation.

“She’s the first. It’s only the Archbishop of Manila who is allowed because this is his church,” he said.

“Others can hold their wake in a parish like the San Agustin Church,” Diwa said.

Diwa said granting the Aquino family’s request to hold the former President’s wake at the Cathedral is breaking the church’s tradition.

“So we break all the rules here,” he said.

The two archbishops of Manila whose wakes were held at the Cathedral were Rufino Cardinal Santos and Jaime Cardinal Sin.

In Makati City, thousands of mourners greeted the presidential cortege of former President Corazon Aquino with confetti and offered a prayer as it stopped for a brief moment in front of the monument of opposition leader Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., Mrs. Aquino’s husband, in Ayala Avenue in Makati City.

The funeral motorcade started in the morning at the De La Salle Greenhills in Mandaluyong City, passed along EDSA and Ayala Ave., on its way to the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros.

As early as 10 a.m., thousands of supporters, majority of them workers at the financial district, started lining the sidewalks of Ayala Avenue in Makati City to wait for the flatbed 10-wheel truck carrying Aquino’s flag-draped coffin.

While the truck carrying Aquino’s coffin stopped in front of the Ninoy Aquino Monument at the corner of Ayala and Paseo De Roxas Street, mourners prayed three Hail Marys and expressed their gratitude to the former president.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay bid farewell to his former boss. Binay was the first local government officer in charge named by Mrs. Aquino when she took over from Ferdinand Marcos.

“Paalam sa’yo. Salamat, sapagkat kayo ang nagbalik ng tunay na demokrasya, sa pagiging uliran at modelo ng bansa, ikaw ang tunay na ina ng bayan,” said Binay.

“Makati holds a special place in the heart of Cory Aquino. She marched through the streets of Makati during protest actions after the 1983 assassination of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino. She marched through the streets of Makati against the abuse of power of the Arroyo administration. In all those events, she was always greeted by confetti.

“Makati is forever grateful to Cory, and this will be our humble way of saying thank you,” he said.

Joining Binay in welcoming the funeral procession of the former president in front of the monument were Aquino’s spokeswoman Deedee Siytangco, employees and business community groups, students, government employees and honor guard from the Makati Police Department and the Department of Public Safety.

Yellow and white confetti poured down Ayala Avenue in Makati City to show their support while individuals closed their umbrellas to pay respect as the cortege of former president arrived at the Ayala grounds.