Corazon 'Cory' Aquino Champion of "People Power" DiesPhilippines former president, Corazon Aquino has died at the age of 76 after a long battle with colon cancer. Mrs Aquino’s legacy will be forever enshrined in the minds of all Filipinos as a national symbol of “People Power”.
In 1986 she was catapulted into the international political spotlight as Filipinos sought to end Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship which had plagued her country.
Corazon Aquino assumed the platform of her late husband, the Philippines opposition leader, who was callously shot dead on the runway of Manila International airport as he attempted to return to his country after a three-year exile in the US. The public assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino on August 21, 1983, sent shock waves around the world and manifested itself in a public show of revulsion on the streets of the Philippines.
The cold blooded shooting of Benigno Aquino severely dented the already precarious Marcos dictatorship as Filipinos sought to fill the political void left by his death. He himself was a national symbol of resistance against the strangle hold of the Marcos regime which was slowly suffocating the country. Filipinos sought to fill the political vacuum created and find a new symbol of courage and determination against their despotic oppression. Such a heady task was to fall to the diminutive figure of Cory Aquino, as she was persuaded to take up the mantle of her late husband’s revolutionary dreams and aspirations for the Philippines.
Birth of 'People Power' Revolution
Mrs Aquino was to set immediately flourish in her new role as crusader for the rights of her native Philippines against the tyrannical Marcos regime. The internationally discredited “snap” elections in 1986 were to prove a significant turning point for the country. Corazon Aquino had embarked on a rigorous campaign trail, criss-crossing the far-flung archipelago as she instilled a new found optimism in the hearts of minds of her people. She re-invigorated the pride of her people everywhere she went with her highly evocative and inspirational speeches. At one particular Manila function she proclaimed;
“The Marcos dictatorship has been cleverly crafted by an evil genius...........And I am first to admit that that evil genius, allowed to run amok for 20 years, succeeded in foisting on the nation a grim constitutional joke built on deceit and manipulation. The deception should not be allowed to last one minute longer.” Mrs Aquino’s ability to unite and galvanise Filipino sentiment was to see a wave of public support flood on to the streets to demand change and a new direction for their country. Within four weeks she was to become the country’s new president whilst the Marcoses fled in ignominy shepherded by the Americans to exile in Hawaii. In an official biography she described her sentiments at that time as “homemaker, widow, reluctant candidate and elected leader of the Philippines”.
Having liberated her people she then set about the task of rebuilding the shattered country following 20 years of plundering and miss-rule under the Marcos regime. Her immense task was not aided by the natural disaster, Mount Pinatubo eruption, which was to befall the region in 1991. Coupled with this, her administration with stood 6 attempted coups between 1986-1989, instigated from within the Philippines ruling oligarchy. However, the devout Roman Catholic was to progress undeterred in her ambitions to re-build Philippine society. She successfully embedded a new constitution which curtailed executive power and limited the presidency to a single six-year term. Shortly after taking office she laid down the gauntlet to her political adversaries by vowing;
“I want to be known as a leader for peace, but if there is no other choice I am ready to lead a war,.....................Many men have underestimated me. Mr Marcos was one. It is good to be underestimated by enemies.”
However, whilst in power Cory Aquino found it difficult to implement all the reforms she had envisaged for her nation. Prior to taking office she had made land reform a fundamental premise of her election campaign promises. Her appetite to accomplish these land reforms quickly waned after taking office. She herself had hailed from Philippine aristocracy and her family owned one of the region’s largest sugar plantations at Hacienda Luisita. This point was continuously ceased upon by her left wing critics who used to it to accuse her of hypocrisy regarding any attempt at land reform. Also, her devout Roman Catholic faith placed her in a precarious position over birth control which was have stifling effect over poverty stricken areas of the Philippines.
Despite these difficulties, Cory Aquino's government will always be remembered for setting on a new economic and social path after two decades of failed leadership and economic policies of the Marcos regime.
Having stepped down from office in 1992 she was to return to the political fray in 1997 when the Philippines threatened to split over attempts to amend the constitution to permit then President, Fidel Ramos, to stand for re-election. In her address to a 600,000 strong crowd she said;
“We are here to tell the people who want to stay in power, by martial law or charter change. No way and never again............................Do your worst, we will do our best to stop you. And we, the people, will prevail.”
Understandably having stepped out off the public eye her once immovable influence over Filipinos has slowly dissipated in the last decade. In 2007, she addressed a crowd of just 7,000 people from her sick bed to rally opposition for attempts by the current President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to remain in power after 2010.
Cory Aquino will be remembered for her innate ability to galvanise the hopes and aspirations of a nation against serial oppression – A Champion of “People Power”. Her true legacy to the Philippines will be her undoubted success in presiding over a peaceful transfer of power in a region where no ruler had voluntarily relinquished control since 1964.
Please Tweet/Retweet and Share This Article......
About The Author
Share This
Subscribe Here
0 comments:
Post a Comment