Corazon Aquino
| Born: | January 25, 1933 |
|---|---|
| In Office: | February 25, 1986 – June 30, 1992 |
María Corazón Cojuangco-Aquino (born María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco on January 25, 1933), widely known as Cory Aquino, was the 11th President of the Philippines, serving from 1986 to 1992. She was the first female President of the Philippines and was Asia's first female President (excepting Soong Ching-ling, Honorary President and acting Chairman of China). She is a world-renowned advocate of democracy, peace, women's empowerment, and religious piety. A self-proclaimed "plain housewife",[2] Aquino is the widow of Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., a leading figure in the political opposition against the autocratic rule of President Ferdinand Marcos. After her husband was assassinated upon his return from exile on August 21, 1983, Aquino, who had no prior political experience, became a focal point and unifying force of the opposition against Marcos. She was drafted to run against Marcos in the 1986 snap presidential elections. After Marcos was proclaimed the winner despite widespread reports of electoral fraud, Aquino was installed as President by the peaceful 1986 People Power Revolution.
Corazon Cojuangco was born in Tarlac[3], a member of one of the richest Chinese-mestizo families in the Philippines.[4] She was born to Jose Cojuangco of Tarlac province and Demetria Sumulong of Antipolo, Rizal. Her ancestry was one-eighth Tagalog in maternal side, one-eighth Kapampangan and one-fourth Spanish in her paternal side, and half-Chinese in both maternal and paternal sides[citation needed]. She is the fourth among six (6) siblings: Pedro, Josephine Reyes, Teresita Lopa (+), Jose Jr. and Maria Paz Teopaco. She was sent to St. Scholastica's College and finished grade school as class valedictorian in 1943. In 1946, she studied high school for one year in Assumption Convent Manila, later she was sent overseas to study in Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia where Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco once studied, the Notre Dame Convent School in New York, and the College of Mount Saint Vincent, also in New York. Aquino worked as a volunteer in the 1948 United States presidential campaign of Republican Thomas Dewey against President Harry Truman.[3] She studied liberal arts and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree major in French Language and minor in Mathematics in 1953. She had intended to become a math teacher and language interpreter.
The relatively peaceful manner by which Aquino assumed the presidency through the EDSA Revolution won her widespread international acclaim as an icon of democracy. She was selected as Time Magazine's Woman of the Year in 1986. She was also nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize but lost to Elie Wiesel also in 1986. In September 1986, Aquino delivered a speech before a joint session of the United States Congress which was interrupted by applause several times, and which then U.S. House Speaker Tip O'Neill hailed as "the finest speech I've ever heard in my 34 years in Congress."[13] The six-year administration of President Aquino saw the enactment of a new Philippine Constitution and several significant legal reforms, including a new agrarian reform law. While her allies maintained a majority in both houses of Congress, she faced considerable opposition from communist insurgency and right-wing soldiers who instituted several coup attempts against her government. Her government also dealt with several major natural disasters that struck the Philippines, as well as a severe power crisis that hampered the Philippine economy. It was also during her administration that the presence of United States military bases in the Philippines came to an end.
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.[36] Aquino has continued to speak out on political issues. In the 1998 presidential elections, she supported the candidacy of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who placed fifth.[37] In January 2001, Aquino played an active role in the second EDSA Revolution which ousted President Joseph Estrada and installed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the presidency.[38] In 2005, Aquino condemned President Macapagal-Arroyo for allegedly rigging the 2004 presidential elections.[39] She has since been a visible participant in mass demonstrations against the Arroyo government and has called for the President's resignation.[40] In the 2007 senatorial elections, Aquino actively campaigned for her only son, Benigno III, in his successful bid for a Senate seat.
n her post-presidency, Aquino has received several awards and citations. In 1994, Aquino was cited as one of 100 Women Who Shaped World History in a reference book written by Gail Meyer Rolka and published by Bluewood Books in San Francisco, California.[41] In 1996, she received the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding from the Fulbright Association, joining past recipients such as Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela.[42] In August 1999, Aquino was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 20 Most Influential Asians of the 20th Century.[43] The same magazine cited her in November 2006 as one of 65 great Asian Heroes, along with Mahatma Gandhi, Aung San Suu Kyi, Lee Kuan Yew, and King Bhumibol Adulyadej.[44] In January 2008, the Europe-based A Different View selected Aquino as one of the 15 Champions of World Democracy, alongside Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Lech Walesa, and Vaclav Havel.[citation needed] In 2002, Aquino became the first woman named to the Board of Governors of the Board of the Asian Institute of Management, a leading graduate business school and think tank in the Asia Pacific region.[45] She served on the Board until 2006.[46] Aquino leads the PinoyME Foundation, a non-profit organization that assists microfinance institutions through the provision of loans.[47] She also oversees social welfare and scholarship assistance projects through the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation, and good governance advocacy through the EDSA People Power Commission, and the People Power People Movement. Aquino is skilled in painting. She is fond of giving her own paintings, as gifts, to her close friends and acquaintances, including world leaders, diplomats, and corporate executives.