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  Aquino, Corazon "Cory"
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationStruggle of Filipino Democrats  
 
NameCorazon "Cory" Aquino
Address
Manila, , Philippines
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born January 24, 1933
DiedJuly 25, 2009 (76 years)
ContributorThomas Walker
Last ModifedJuan Croniqueur
Jul 13, 2023 03:26am
Tags Filipino - Widowed - Cancer - Catholic -
InfoMaria Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco was born in Manila into one of the richest families in the Philippines, the powerful Cojuangcos of Tarlac province. Her mother's family, the Sumulongs, also belong to a political family in Rizal. She has Spanish, Chinese, and Malay roots.

She grew up privileged, sent overseas to study in Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia, the Notre Dame Convent School in New York, and Mount St. Vincent College, also in New York. She studied mathematics and graduated with a degree in French in 1953.

She returned to the Philippines to study law at Far Eastern University, but in 1955 she married Benigno Aquino Jr., who had just been elected mayor of Concepción in Tarlac province at the age of 22. She eventually bore him five children: a son, Benigno III, and four daughters, Maria Elena, Aurora, Victoria, and Kristina. He rose to be governor and senator, then under the Marcos regime was arrested, sentenced to death, and exiled. She accompanied him into exile in 1980. After his death she entered politics as head of the Laban coalition.

When Ferdinand Marcos unexpectedly called for a presidential election in February 1986, the opposition united behind Aquino to opposed the Marcos regime. Although she was officially reported to have lost the election to Marcos, the elections were widely believed to be fraudulent. Both Marcos and Aquino claimed to have won, and held rival inaugurations on February 25, but Marcos then fled in the face of huge popular demonstrations and the refusal of the military to intervene against them.
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Presidency

Despite the euphoria following the overthrow of the Marcos government, Aquino faced the massive challenge of restoring the nation. She established a revolutionary government under the terms of a provisional "Freedom Constitution", legally establishing the structure of the government pending the adoption of a permanent, democratically-drafted constitution. In late 1986, the Aquino administration appointed a Constitutional Commission to draft the new constitution. It was ratified on February 7, 1987. Congressional and local elections soon followed, setting up a government based on popular and democratic mandate.

Aquino drew praise for her support for democracy, and was selected as Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 1986. Despite her enormous personal popularity and that of the new constitution, Aquino continued to face repeated military coup attempts and communist insurrection. Marcos loyalists continued to oppose the government, culminating in a failed July 1987 attempt to establish a rival government at the Manila Hotel, with Arturo Tolentino as temporary president. A more serious threat came from an attempted coup in August 1987 led by Col. Gregorio Honasan. Rumors of coup attempts continued to plague the Aquino adminstration.

In the 1992 Philippine elections, Aquino backed Fidel V. Ramos, Marcos' army chief-of-staff whose defection to the Aquino party proved crucial to the popular revolution. This decision was unpopular among many of her core supporters, including the Catholic Church (Ramos is a Protestant). Ramos narrowly won with just 23.5 percent of the vote, and succeeded Aquino as president on June 30, 1992.
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Post-presidency

Following the end of her term, Aquino retired to private life. When she rode away from the inauguration of her successor, she chose to go in a simple white Toyota Crown she had purchased (rather than the government-issue Mercedes), to make the point that she was once again an ordinary citizen. She has directed a number of projects that aim at furthering the spread of Asian democracy.

In 2002, Aquino received an honorary doctorate from the University of Washington in Seattle.


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NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor
Jul 31, 2009 05:50pm Obituary Former Philippines president Aquino dead at 76  Article Thomas Walker 

DISCUSSION
Importance? 10.00000 Average

FAMILY
Husband Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. Oct 11, 1954-Aug 21, 1983
Son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III 1960-2021
Father In-Law Benigno Aquino Sr. 1894-1947

INFORMATION LINKS
RACES
  02/25/1986 Philippines President Won 52.29% (+4.58%)
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