María Corazón “Cory” Cojuangco Aquino (born January 25, 1933) is a former President of the Philippines and a world-renowned advocate of democracy, peace, women’s empowerment, and religious piety. She served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the first female president of the Philippines and was Asia’s first female president.
VERY ILL!
The 76-year-old democracy icon was admitted to the intensive care unit last week after she stopped eating, spokeswoman Deedee Sytangco told The Associated Press.
Aquino, who has been fighting stage-four colon cancer, was receiving nourishment in the hospital, Sytangco said.
The former leader was “not very well,” but was not in pain and had not been placed on life support, she said.
Aquino was diagnosed with the disease last year. She had been undergoing chemotherapy, but was no longer receiving treatment, Sytangco said.
“We hope that people will support her and pray for her,” Sytangco said.
Aquino was a humble homemaker propelled to politics by the 1983 assassination of her husband, opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino. She later led a peaceful uprising in 1986 that toppled late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and became a harbinger of nonviolent protests around the world.
She stepped down in 1992 but remained active in social and political causes. Before her illness, she joined protest rallies calling for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption.
Members of her former Cabinet and other supporters gathered Wednesday in a church near the hospital in Manila’s financial district of Makati where Aquino was admitted to offer prayers for her recovery.
TRIBUTE:
Self-effacing by nature, Cory Aquino has characteristically shared the credit for the many accolades that she has received for leadership, international understanding and her commitment to freedom and democracy. Named, among others, as “Woman of the Year” by Time magazine in 1986 and “Filipino of the Century” by the Philippines Free Press in 2000, and conferred over 20 honorary doctorates, she has kept her feet firmly on the ground. In her view, the limelight belongs to her martyred husband, to the courageous people who carried her on their shoulders and, above all, to God. This theme runs across much of the articles written about her, including the reflections shared during the inaugural symposium of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Center for Leadership in November 2004.
