Yumul, Vivialyn Rea A.

Readings in Philippine History

BSCE-1H Group 4

Report #53

LIFE OF CORAZON AQUINO

We all know that Corazon Aquino is a former President of the Philippines. She
was the 11th president of the Philippines to be specific and was the first female president
of the Phillipines. She restored democracy after the long dictatorship of Ferdinand
Marcos.

Early Years

Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco is her full name before he got married. She
was born January 25, 1933, in Tarlac province, Philippines to a wealthy political and
banking family. Her parents were Jose Chichioco Cojuangco and Demetria "Metring"
Sumulong, and where the Family is mixed Chinese, Filipino, and Spanish descent. The
family surname is a Spanish version of the Chinese name "Koo Kuan Goo." The
Cojuangcos owned a sugar plantation covering 15,000 acres and were among the
wealthiest families in the province. Cory was the couple's sixth child of eight.

Education

As a young girl, Corazon Aquino was studious and shy. She also showed a devout
commitment to the Catholic Church from an early age. Corazon went to expensive
private schools in Manila through age 13, when her parents sent her to the United States
for high school.

Corazon went first to Philadelphia's Ravenhill Academy and then the Notre Dame
Convent School in New York, graduating in 1949. As an undergraduate at the College of
Mount St. Vincent in New York City, Corazon Aquino majored in French. She also was
fluent in Tagalog, Kapampangan, and English.
 After her 1953 graduation from college, Corazon moved back to Manila to attend
law school at the Far Eastern University. There, she met a young man from one of the
Philippines' other wealthy families, a fellow student named Benigno Aquino, Jr., an
ambitious young journalist who also came from a family with considerable wealth. The
couple married in 1954, and would go on to have five children together: one son and four
daughters.

Marriage and Life as a Housewife

Corazon Aquino left law school after just one year to marry Ninoy “Ninoy” Aquino, a
journalist with political aspirations. Ninoy soon became the youngest governor ever
elected in the Philippines, and then was elected as the youngest member of the Senate
ever in 1967. Corazon concentrated on raising their five children:

 Maria Elena (b. 1955)

 Aurora Corazon (1957)

 Benigno III "Noynoy" (1960)

 Victoria Elisa (1961)

 and Kristina Bernadette (1971).

Benigno soon abandoned a career in journalism for politics. With Corazon at his side,
he quickly established himself as one of the country's brightest young leaders. However,
Cory was too shy to join him on stage during his campaign speeches, preferring to stand
at the back of the crowd and watch.

In the early 1970s, money was tight, so Corazon moved the family to a smaller
home and even sold part of the land she had inherited in order to fund his campaign. Over
the span of just two decades, he was elected mayor, then governor and, finally, senator.
Along the way, he challenged the rule of the country's president, Ferdinand Marcos.
 Ninoy had become an outspoken critic of Ferdinand Marcos's regime and was
expected to win the 1973 presidential elections since Marcos was term-limited and could
not run according to the Constitution. However, Marcos declared martial law on
September 21, 1972, and abolished the Constitution, refusing to relinquish power. Ninoy
was arrested and sentenced to death, leaving Corazon to raise the children alone for the
next seven years.

Exile for the Aquinos

In 1978, Ferdinand Marcos decided to hold parliamentary elections, the first since
his imposition of martial law, in order to add a veneer of democracy to his rule. He fully
expected to win, but the public overwhelmingly supported the opposition, led in absentia
by the jailed Ninoy Aquino.

Corazon did not approve of Ninoy's decision to campaign for parliament from
prison, but she dutifully delivered campaign speeches for him. This was a key turning
point in her life, moving the shy housewife into the political spotlight for the first time.
Marcos rigged the election results, however, claiming over 70 percent of the
parliamentary seats in a clearly fraudulent result.

Meanwhile, Ninoy's health was suffering from his long imprisonment. US

President Jimmy Carter personally intervened, asking Marcos to allow the Aquino family
to go into medical exile in the States. In 1980, the regime allowed the family to move to
Boston.

Corazon spent some of the best years of her life there, reunited with Ninoy,
surrounded by her family, and out of the scrum of politics. Ninoy, on the other hand, felt
obligated to renew his challenge to the Marcos dictatorship once he had recovered his
health. He began to plan a return to the Philippines.

Corazon and the kids stayed in America while Ninoy took a circuitous route back
to Manila. Marcos knew he was coming, though, and had Ninoy assassinated as he got
off the plane on August 21, 1983. Corazon Aquino was a widow at the age of 50

Corazon Aquino in Politics

 Literally millions of Filipinos poured into the streets of Manila for Ninoy's
funeral. Corazon led the procession with quiet grief and dignity and went on to lead
protests and political demonstrations as well. Her calm strength under horrific conditions
made her the center of anti-Marcos politics in the Philippines -- a movement known as
"People Power."

Marcos was presumed to be behind the killing, and Benigno's assassination set off
a wave of protests against Marcos' administration. The opposition coalesced around
Corazon Aquino. While she gracefully dealt with her husband's death, Aquino evolved
into a national symbol of reform.

With international pressure bearing down on his administration, Marcos

unexpectedly called for presidential elections in February 1986. Marcos' opposition chose
Aquino as their candidate. When she narrowly lost the election, Aquino and her
supporters challenged the results. Quickly, Marco's fortunes began to turn. The army, and
then the defense minister, soon declared support for Aquino, prompting Marcos to seek
exile in Hawaii. Aquino was sworn into office on February 25, 1986, becoming the first
female president of the Philippines. That same year, she was named TIME magazine's
Woman of the Year.

President Corazon Aquino

On February 25, 1986, as a result of the "People Power Revolution," Corazon

Aquino became the first female president of the Philippines. She restored democracy to
the country, promulgating a new constitution, and serving until 1992.

President Aquino's tenure was not entirely smooth, however. She

pledged agrarian reform and land redistribution, but her background as a member of the
landed classes made this a difficult promise to keep. Corazon Aquino also convinced the
US to withdraw its military from remaining bases in the Philippines -- with help from Mt.
Pinatubo, which erupted in June of 1991 and buried several military installations.

Marcos supporters in the Philippines staged half a dozen coup attempts against
Corazon Aquino during her term in office, but she survived them all in her low-key yet
stubborn political style. Although her own allies urged her to run for a second term in
1992, she adamantly refused. The new 1987 Constitution forbade second terms, but her
supporters argued that she was elected before the constitution came into effect, so it did
not apply to her.

Retirement Years and Death

Corazon Aquino supported her Defense Secretary, Fidel Ramos, in his candidacy
to replace her as president. Ramos won the 1992 presidential election in a crowded field,
although he was far short of a majority of the vote.

In retirement, former President Aquino frequently spoke out on political and

social issues. She was particularly vocal in opposing later presidents' attempts to amend
the constitution to allow themselves extra terms in office. She also worked to reduce
violence and homelessness in the Philippines.

In 2007, Corazon Aquino publicly campaigned for her son Noynoy when he ran
for the Senate. In March of 2008, Aquino announced that she had been diagnosed with
colorectal cancer. Despite aggressive treatment, she passed away on August 1, 2009, at
the age of 76. She did not get to see her son Noynoy elected president; he took power on
June 30, 2010.

References:
https://www.thoughtco.com/corazon-aquino-biography-195652
https://www.biography.com/people/corazon-aquino-9187250