1.  1st
Woman Pres. In The Philippines and In Asia.

2.  11th President of the Philippines
 2nd President of the 4th Republic
1st President of the 5th Republic
 In office
February 25, 1986 – June 30, 1992
 Prime Minister: Salvador H. Laurel
 Vice President: Salvador H. Laurel
 Preceded by Ferdinand E. Marcos
 Succeeded by Fidel V. Ramos
 Born January 25, 1933 (1933-01-25) (age 76)
Paniqui, Tarlac, Philippines
 Political party: United Nationalists Democratic Organizations (UNIDO)/Lakas
ng Bayan (LABAN)/Liberal
 Spouse: Benigno Aquino, Jr.†
 Occupation: Housewife, Politician
 Religion: Roman Catholic
 Signature:

3.  Corazon Cojuangco was born in Tarlac, a member of one of the richest
Chinese-mestizo families in the Philippines. 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.
 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 Manila) 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. 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.

4.  Aquino returned to the Philippines to study law
at the Far Eastern University, owned by the
family of the late Nicanor Reyes, Sr., who had
been the father-in-law of her older sister
Josephine. She gave up her law studies when in
1954, she married Benigno Servillano "Ninoy"
Aquino, Jr., the son of a former Speaker of the
National Assembly. They had five children
together: a son, Benigno Simeon Aquino III, who
was elected to the Philippine Senate in 2007,
and four daughters, Maria Elena A. Cruz, Aurora
Corazon A. Abellada, Victoria Eliza A. Dee, and
actress-television host Kristina Bernadette A.
Yap. Aquino had initial difficulty adjusting to
provincial life when she and her husband moved
to Concepcion, Tarlac in 1955, after her husband
had been elected the town's mayor at the age of
22. The American-educated Aquino found
herself bored in Concepcion, welcoming
opportunities when she and her husband would
have dinner inside the American military facility
at nearby Clark Field.

5.  A member of the Liberal Party, Aquino's husband rose to be governor of Tarlac, and was elected to the
Philippine Senate in 1967. During her husband's political career, Aquino remained a housewife who helped
raise the children and played hostess to her spouse's political allies who would frequent their Quezon City
home. She would decline to join her husband on stage during campaign rallies, preferring instead to stand at
the back of the audience in order to listen to him. Nonetheless, she was consulted upon on political matters
by her husband, who valued her judgments enormously.
 Benigno Aquino soon emerged as a leading critic of the government of President Ferdinand Marcos of the
Nacionalista Party, and there was wide speculation that he would run in the 1973 presidential elections,
Marcos then being term limited. However, Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, and later
abolished the 1935 Constitution, allowing him to remain in office. Aquino's husband was among those
arrested at the onset of martial law, later being sentenced to death. During his incarceration, Aquino drew
strength from prayer, attending daily mass and saying three rosaries a day. As a measure of sacrifice, she
enjoined her children from attending parties, and herself stopped from going to the beauty salon or buying
new clothes, until a priest advised her and her children to instead live as normal lives as possible.
 In 1978, despite her initial opposition, Aquino's imprisoned husband decided to run the 1978 Batasang
Pambansa elections. Aquino campaigned in behalf of her imprisoned husband and for the first time in her
life, delivered a political speech, though she willingly relinquished having to speak in public when it emerged
that her six-year old daughter Kris was more than willing to speak on stage.
 In 1980, upon the intervention of United States President Jimmy Carter, Marcos allowed Senator Aquino
and his family leave for exile in the United States. The family settled in Boston, and Aquino would later call
the next three years as the happiest days of her married life. He returned without his family to the
Philippines on August 21, 1983, only to be assassinated at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport,
which was later renamed in his honor. Aquino returned to the Philippines a few days later and led her
husband's funeral rites, where more than two million people were estimated to have participated, the
biggest ever in Philippine history.

6.  Aquino participated in many of the mass actions that were
staged in the two years following the assassination of her
husband. On the last week of November 1985, Marcos
unexpectedly announced a snap presidential election to be
held in February 1986. Initially, Senator Salvador Laurel of
Batangas, the son of a former president, was seen as the
favorite presidential candidate of the opposition, under
the United Nationalists Democratic Organizations.
However, business tycoon Don Joaquin "Chino" Roces was
not convinced that Laurel could defeat Marcos in the polls.
Roces initiated the Cory Aquino for President Movement to
gather one million signatures in one week for Cory to run as
president.
 Aquino was reluctant at first to run for presidency,
despite pleas that she was the one candidate who could
unite the opposition against Marcos. She eventually was
convinced following a ten-hour meditation session at a
Catholic convent. Laurel did not immediately accede to calls
for him to give way to Aquino, and offered her the vice-
presidential slot under his UNIDO party. Aquino instead
offered to give up her affiliation with her husband's
political party, the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN), which had
just merged with Partido Demokratiko Pilipino, and run
under the UNIDO banner with Laurel sliding down to the
vice-presidential slot. Laurel gave way to Aquino to run as
President and ran as her running-mate under UNIDO as
the main political umbrella of the opposition.

7.  In the succeeding political campaign, Marcos charged that Aquino was being supported
by communists and agreed to share power with them, to which she responded that she
would not appoint one to her cabinet. Marcos also accused Aquino of playing "political
football" with the United States with respect to the continued United States military
presence in the Philippines at Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base. Marcos also derided
Aquino as "just a woman" whose place was in the bedroom.
 The elections held on February 7, 1986 were marred by the intimidation and mass
disenfranchisement of voters. Election day itself and the days immediately after were
marred by violence, including the murder of one of Aquino's top allies, Antique
governor Evelio Javier. While the official tally of the Commission on Elections
(COMELEC) consistently showed Marcos in the lead, the unofficial tally of the National
Movement for Free Elections indicated that Aquino was leading. Despite the job
walkout of 30 COMELEC computer technicians alleging election-rigging in favor of
Marcos, the Batasang Pambansa, controlled by Marcos allies, ratified the official count
and proclaimed Marcos the winner on February 15, 1986. The country's Catholic
bishops and the United States Senate condemned the election, and Aquino called for a
general strike and a boycott of business enterprises controlled by Marcos allies. She
also rejected a power-sharing agreement proposed by the American diplomat Philip
Habib, who had been sent as an emissary by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to help
defuse the tension.

8.  On 22 February 1986, the People Power Revolution was
triggered after two key Marcos allies, Defense Minister
Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces Vice-Chief of Staff
Fidel Ramos called on Marcos to resign and holed up in two
military camps in Quezon City. Aquino, who was in Cebu City
when the revolt broke out, returned to Manila and insisted
on joining the swelling crowd that had gathered outside the
camps as a human barricade to protect the defectors. On
the morning of 25 February 1986, at the Club Filipino in
San Juan, Aquino took the presidential oath of office
administered by Supreme Court Associate Justice Claudio
Teehankee. Marcos himself was sworn into office at
Malacañang Palace on that same day, but fled into exile
later that night.

9.  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."
 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.

10.  The members of the Constitutional Commision were
presidential appointees from various sectors of the
society. Justice Cecilla Munoz-Palma headed the
commision. The 1987 Constitution was ratified by the
Filipino people through a pebliscite on Feb. 2, 1987 and
formally ended the Revolutionary government.
 As provided in the 1987Constitution, the system of
government would be presidential, wherein the President is
the head of the executive branch with the Cabinet
secretaries as his/her assistants to carry out the
government’s programs. The new constitution limited the
term of the President to 6 years without reelection.

11.  The legislative department, a bicameral law-making body, is composed of
the Senate or the Upper House and the House of Representative or
Lower House. The Senate, which is headed by the Senate President, is
made up of 24 senators duly elected by the citizens. A senator could
serve a maximum of 12 years if re-elected, equivalent to the two terms.
The Lower House, on the other hand, is composed of 250
representatives or Congressmen or women elected in their own districts,
20% of whom were appointed by the Pres., representing different
sectors of the society. A Speaker heads the House of Representatives
and the members could serve up to nine years or three terms if
reelected.
 Judicial powers are vested on the Supreme Court headed by the Chief
Justice. The Chief Justice and 14 associate justices who are appointed
by the President, make up the judicial branch of the government.
 In a democratic government, the three branches have equal powers but
have different functions and are independent from one another

12.  In it’s first regular session, Congress enacted three
important laws namely: Republic Act # 6655, providing for
free secondary education in the public schools; RA No.
6657, implementing the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program (CARP); and RA No. 6675 or the Generic Law,
encouraging the use of lost cost generic medicine.
 As provided in the Constitution, election were held . There
was a national election on May 11, 1987 for the members
of the legislative department. A local election for local
government officials on Jan. 18, 1988 was held and there
was a barangay election for barangay officials on Mar. 28,
1989.

13.  One month after assuming the presidency, Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3, which proclaimed
her government as a revolutionary government. She suspended the 1973 Constitution installed
during martial law, and promulgated a provisional “Freedom Constitution” pending the enactment
of a new Constitution. She likewise closed the Batasang Pambansaand reorganized the
membership of the Supreme Court. In May 1986, the reorganized Supreme Court declared the
Aquino government as “not merely a de facto government but in fact and law a de jure
government”, whose legitimacy had been affirmed by the community of nations.
 Aquino appointed 48 members of a Constitutional Commission tasked with drafting a new
Constitution. The commission, which was chaired by retired Supreme Court Associate Justice
Cecilia Muñoz-Palma completed its final draft in October 1986 The 1987 Constitution was
approved in a national plebiscite in February 1987. Both the “Freedom Constitution” and the
1987 Constitution authorized President Aquino to exercise legislative power until such time a
new Congress was organized. She continued to exercise such powers until the new Congress
organized under the 1987 Constitution convened in July 1987. Within that period, Aquino
promulgated two legal codes that set forth significant legal reforms -- the Family Code of
1987, which reformed the civil law on family relations, and the Administrative Code of 1987,
which reorganized the structure of the executive branch of government.
 In 1991, Aquino signed into law the Local Government Code, which further devolved national
government powers to local government units. The new Code enhanced the power of local
government units to enact local taxation measures, and assured them of a share of the national
internal revenue.

14.  On 22 July 1987, Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation 131 and Executive Order 229, which
outlined the President’s land reform program, and expanded land reform to sugar lands. Her
agrarian reform policy was enacted into law by the 8th Congress of the Philippines, which in 1988
passed Republic Act No. 6657, also known as “The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law”. The law
authorized the redistribution of agricultural lands to tenant-farmers from landowners, who were
paid in exchange by the government just compensation and allowed to retain not more than five
hectares of land. Corporate landowners were also allowed under the law to “voluntarily divest a
proportion of their capital stock, equity or participation in favor of their workers or other
qualified beneficiaries”, in lieu of turning over their land to the government for redistribution. The
Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law in 1989, characterizing the agrarian reform
policy as “a revolutionary kind of expropriation.”
 Controversies eventually centered on the landholdings of Aquino, who inherited from her parents
the 6,453 hectare large Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac which was owned through the Tarlac
Development Company. Opting for the stock distribution option under the agrarian reform law,
Tarlac Development Company established Hacienda Luisita, Incorporated (HLI) in order to effect
the distribution of stocks to the farmer-tenants of the hacienda. Ownership of the agricultural
portions of the hacienda were transferred to the new corporation, which in turn distributed its
shares of stocks to the farmers. The arrangement withstood until 2006, when the Department of
Agrarian Reform revoked the stock distribution scheme implemented in Hacienda Luisita, and
ordered instead the redistribution of a large portion of the property to the tenant-farmers. The
Department had stepped into the controversy when in 2004, violence erupted over the
retrenchment of workers in the Hacienda, eventually leaving seven people dead.

15.  From 1986 to 1989, Aquino was confronted with a series of attempts at military interventions by some members of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines, aimed at the overthrow of the Aquino government. Most of these attempts were
instigated by the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), a group of middle-ranking officers closely linked with
Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. Soldiers loyal to former President Marcos were likewise involved in some of these
attempts. The first five of the attempts were either crushed before they were put in operation, or repelled with minimal
or no violence. The sixth attempt, staged on August 28, 1987, left 53 people dead and over 200 wounded, including
Aquino's son, Noynoy. The seventh and final attempt, which occurred throughout the first week of January, 1989, ended
with 99 dead (including 50 civilians) and 570 wounded.
 The coup attempts would collectively impair the Aquino government, even though it survived, as it indicated political
instability, an unruly military, and diminished the confidence of foreign investors in the Philippine economy. The 1989 coup
alone resulted in combined financial losses of between 800 million to 1 billion pesos.
 The November 1986 and August 1987 coup plots would also lead to significant reorganizations within the Aquino
government. Given the apparent involvement of Defense Secretary Enrile in the November 1986 plot, a fact which was
reaffirmed by the Davide Commission Report, Aquino fired him on November 22, 1986, and likewise announced an overall
Cabinet revamp, "to give the government a chance to start all over again." The revamp would lead to the dismissal of Labor
Secretary Augusto Sanchez, a perceived leftist, which was believed to be a compromise measure in light of a key rebel
demand to cleanse the Cabinet of left-leaning members. Following the August 1987 coup attempt, the Aquino government
was seen to have veered to the right, dismissing perceived left-leaning officials such as Executive Secretary Joker
Arroyo and tacitly authorizing the establishment of armed quasi-military groups to combat the communist insurgency. It
was also believed that General Fidel Ramos, who remained loyal to Aquino, emerged as the second most powerful person in
government following his successful quelling of the coup. Across-the-board wage increases for soldiers were also granted.
 Aquino herself would sue Philippine Star columnist Louie Beltran for libel after he wrote that the President had hid under
her bed during the August 1987 coup as the siege of Malacañang began.

16.  The Aquino administration faced a series of natural
disasters during its last two years in office. The 1990
Luzon earthquake left around 1,600 dead, with around a
thousand of the fatalities in Baguio City. The 1991
eruption of the long-dormant Mount Pinatubo was the
second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century,
killing around 300 people and causing widespread long-
term devastation of agricultural lands in Central Luzon.
The worst loss of life occurred when Tropical Storm
Thelma (also known as Typhoon Uring) caused massive
flooding in Ormoc City in November 1991, leaving around
6,000 dead in what was the deadliest typhoon in Philippine
history.

17.  In the 1992 Philippine elections, though eligible to run
for a second term, Aquino backed her then Defense
Secretary Fidel V. Ramos (after initially naming Ramon
Mitra, Jr., her former Agriculture Secretary and then
Speaker of the House of Representatives, as her
candidate), Marcos' armed forces vice-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
Roman Catholic Church (Ramos is a Protestant). Ramos
narrowly won with just 23.58 percent of the vote, and
succeeded Aquino as president on June 30, 1992.

18.  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.
 Aquino leads the PinoyME Foundation, a non-profit organization that assists microfinance
institutions through the provision of loans. 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.
 President Aquino is likewise a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an
International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers
whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action
on issues of critical importance to women and equitable
 On March 24, 2008, the Aquino family announced that the former President had been
diagnosed with colon cancer. Aquino underwent chemotherapy, and in public remarks made
on May 13, 2008, she announced that blood tests indicate she is responding positively to
the medical treatment.

19. POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
o Abolished Batasang Pambansa and
restored the Legislature; thus,
restoring the power of the people to
create their own laws
o Initiated Ministry of
Labor/Employment to give jobs to the
unemployed
o Initiated Presidential commission on
Human Rights to investigate human
rights violations during the Marcos era

20. o Organized the Presidential Commission on
Government Reorganization to replace
bad officials with more capable officials
who have integrity and loyalty to the
country
o Instituted the Presidential Commission on
Good Government to recover ill-gotten
wealth during the Marcos era
o It was during her administration that the
1987 constitution was put into effect

21. o Suspension of the write of habeas corpus
was abolished
o Political prisoners were set free
o Restoration of our freedom to speech,
press, and assembly
o Removal of corrupt government officials

22. ECONOMIC ACHEIVEMENTS
o Export earnings increased to $3.2 billion
o Establishment of the People’s Economic
Councils which provided employment for
the jobless
o Ample freedom was given to those who
worked hard for the country so they had
more opportunities to seek for what they
believe they deserve

23. o Worked for lowering prices of basic
commodities
o Undertook a low-income housing program
to provide shelter for the homeless
o Decrease of unemployment rate

24. SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENTS
o Commitment to social justice
o Set an example for the Filipinos by living a
simple life
o Medium Term Philippine Development Plan
was established to provide education and
improved educational training for teachers
o Muslims were given school options that
would enrich their culture

25. o Students with low income and were
exceptionally intelligent were given
scholarships
o Improvement of education through the
Program for Decentralized Educational
Development and Secondary Educational
Development Program
o Improved relations with other countries