Philippines goes into 10 days of mourning for democracy icon Cory Aquino

The queue at De La Salle University in Manila's San Juan City grew overnight as more people came to see the remains of Aquino, who died on Saturday from cardio-respiratory arrest after battling colon cancer for more than one year.

"I am one of the many Filipinos who really love president Cory Aquino, that's why I'm here even if I have to wait for a long time," said 16-year-old Nirvana Esquivel, who only knows the former leader through what her parents told her.

Esquivel said she admires Tita (aunt) Cory, as people fondly called her.

"Her courage is what makes her a Filipino," she said.

"She really inspires me, and she's an icon."

Aquino, 76, was credited with bringing democracy back to the Philippines as she led a four-day "people power" revolt in February 1986 that toppled the 20-year dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

For many Filipinos, Aquino was one of the best leaders the country ever had.

"She symbolises decency, truthfulness, integrity, sincerity," said Juan Badong Junior, a government employee who lined up with his wife to catch a last glimpse of Aquino, who wore a yellow dress and clutched a rose-colored rosary.

"These are traits that our leaders should have, that they had in the past, but sadly not in the present, and this is reason enough for me to be here," Badong said.

He and his wife Fina plan to join the funeral march for Aquino on Wednesday, which has been declared a non-working holiday.

President Gloria Arroyo, who was on an official visit to the United States when Aquino passed away, has declared a 10-day period of national mourning as she hailed the former leader as a "national treasure".

Aides said Arroyo was cutting short her US trip to return for the funeral.

Elisa Barcelon, 61, brought her two grandchildren to the wake.

"I wanted them to know who my president was," she said, crying quietly as she waited in line for more than four hours. "President Aquino gave us our democracy back, and I hope she can now rest with the Lord."

Her granddaughter Jennifer, 9, said she was happy to wait in line because she's heard so many stories about Aquino.

"My grandmother told me that she was a former president and she was a very good president," she said. "She loved and cared for our country."

Foreign visitors also paid their respects, including Wan Azizah Ismail, the wife of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

French businessman Emmanuel Bole, 43, read a newspaper as he lined up.

"I am here because I want to pay my respects to the former president, who I met in 1989 when I first came to the Philippines for a project," he said.

Aquino was "very precise" and knew everything about the dairy project in the central province of Cebu, he said.

The former president represented the good side of Filipinos, rather than the corruption and abuses that have become persistent issues in the Philippines, he said.

"The international community will always remember her for her fight for democracy, for delivering the Philippines from Marcos," he said.

"She was also a woman so we were looking at her a lot because it was difficult at that time to have a woman head of state."