EX-PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: Corazon Aquino deis at 76

WORLD — By MainStreetMantra Desk on August 1, 2009 at 12:25 pm
EX-PRESIDENT CORAZON AQUINO DIES

'PEOPLE POWER MOVEMENT' VOICE

Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, whose “People Power” movement pushed out longtime strongman Ferdinand Marcos less than three years after her husband’s assassination, has died at age 76, her family announced Saturday.

Aquino, the first woman to lead the Philippines, had been battling colon cancer since March 2008 and died of cardio-respiratory arrest at 3:18 a.m. Saturday (3:18 p.m. Friday ET), said Mai Mislang, a spokeswoman for her son, Philippine Sen. Benigno Aquino III.

Funeral arrangements were being set up, Mislang said. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has also announced a 10-day mourning period for the former president, said Ray Donato, the country’s consul-general in Atlanta.

“She was the agent of change in Philippine democracy, and almost all the Filipinos I know revered her during her presidency,” Donato said.

Aquino had been born into a wealthy family and was educated in the United States. She had not been involved in politics before her husband, opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was gunned down at Manila’s airport in August 1983 as he returned from exile.

The political novice took over the leadership of her husband’s movement after his death and challenged Marcos in a 1986 election, making a yellow dress her trademark and bolstered by the support of the country’s Roman Catholic churches.

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    6 Comments

  • annuity says:

    The problem with this country is BOTH the Democrats and Republicans. Anyone who seriously thinks that one side isn’t corrupt or slaves to Corporate America hasn’t done an adequate job of paying attention. To the Republicans: The GW administration will go down in History as one of the worst administrations. They eroded your constitutional rights, expanded the power of the wealthy elite, invaded countries under false pretenses, destroyed diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, and spent money like it was going out of style. To the Democrats: Obama is a dud. He promised much and has turned out to be another corporate lackey. He made deals with big pharma to ensure you could not get your medication cheaper elsewhere, he flip flopped on military tribunals, he refuses to fix health care properly through nationalization or single payer, he populates his inner circle with more Wall Street insiders, he spends money on bailouts and useless stimulus packages.

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  • aetna says:

    Our major issue in this country is our two political parties. Our forefathers knew that a two party system would be our downfall and took steps to try to stop this type of politics, and thus anyone who seriously thinks that politics isn’t corrupt or slaves to Corporate America hasn’t not been paying attention. George Jr. will go down in History as one of the worst administrations in history and I could go on for hours showing why, but my point is that the Obama administration has offered nothing different (besides health reform, granted) and has in fact continued nearly every single Bush program. Obama has almost the same political donors and thus has the same pressures as Bush did. Health reform will turn out to be the most expensive and destructive waste of tax payer money ever. I just wish I could offer a better alternative for other frustrated people, but I can’t and those that think that the tea partiers are the future, remember that Sarah Palin is an important figure to them.

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  • trumny says:

    Yes, that is true, I agree with you, but I am not sure if there are no other options.

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