Background
Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco was born on January 25, 1933 in Tarlac and was the sixth (of whom two died in infancy) of eight children of José Cojuangco, a former congressman, and Demetria (née Sumulong) Cojuangco, a pharmacist.
Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco was born on January 25, 1933 in Tarlac and was the sixth (of whom two died in infancy) of eight children of José Cojuangco, a former congressman, and Demetria (née Sumulong) Cojuangco, a pharmacist.
Aquino attended an exclusive Catholic school for girls in Manila before travelling to America to attend Philadelphia's Raven Hill Academy.
After earning a degree in French and mathematics from New York's Mount Saint Vincent College in 1953, she returned to the Philippines and studied law at Far Eastern University in 1953. She later met Benigno "Ninoy" S. Aquino, Jr. —son of the late Speaker Benigno S. Aquino, Sr. and a grandson of General Servillano Aquino. She discontinued her law education and married Ninoy.
The results of the 1986 election were so fraudulent that both Aquino and her opponent, the incumbent, Ferdinand Marcos declared victory.
One year after they were married, Aquino's husband was elected mayor of the city of Concepcion at the age of 22.
Her husband was considered one of the Philippines' brightest political hopes.
Moving up in politics, Aquino's husband became the youngest territorial governor and later the youngest senator in the Philippines.
Through out all her husband's political successes, Aquino stayed in the background, preferring to concentrate her energies on raising their four daughters and a son.
As her husband rose in prominence, he became an outspoken critic of the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.
When Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, Aquino's husband was one of the first persons arrested and put in jail.
Becoming her husband's main link to the outside world, she was instrumental in having his statements passed along to the press and to activists outside the prison walls.
From inside his cell, Aquino's husband even ran for a seat in Parliament, with his wife conducting a large portion of the campaign.
In 1980, Aquino's husband was released from jail in order to undergo heart surgery in the United States.
His family lived with him in the Boston area and his wife described the time as the best years of her life.
In 1983 supporters of the anti-Marcos factions persuaded Aquino's husband to return to the Philippines and to lead their cause.
When his plane landed on the tarmac of the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983, Aquino's husband was assassinated.
However, the court which eventually tried them for the murder acquitted all 26 defendants.
Homemaker Turns Politician Her husband's assassination served as the turning point of Aquino's life.
As her dead husband became the rallying focus of anti-Marcos groups she, as his widow, became the unifying figure for the different factions of the opposition.
Aquino was catapulted into the role of keeping the unity alive.
On October 15, 1985, the Aquino presidential campaign was launched at the National Press Club in Manila by 250 founding members, many of whom were businesspeople and professionals.
The political support she amassed, and the exoneration of the military men tried for her husband's murder, made Aquino accept the mandate to run for the presidency, "not in vengeance but in search of justice. "
Initial negotiations fell through in a disagreement about which party's name to carry-her husband's LABAN (Fight) Party or Laurel's UNIDO (United Nationalist Democratic Organization).
Before the deadline for filing candidacy she and Laurel agreed to run under the UNIDO banner.
Countering Marcos's charges of her political inexperience, Aquino counted as her main asset her diametrical opposition to the president.
Her supporters considered her a fresh new face with a reputation for moral integrity.
Her main assets in the campaign were her reputation for moral integrity along with her avowal of her slain husband's ideals.
To these were added the quiet support of the influential Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, whose prelate Jamie Cardinal Sin was instrumental in the Aquino-Laurel reconciliation.
Her opponent, Marcos, had extended his term of office for more than 20 years through a declaration of martial law and constitutional changes that increased his powers.
The people took to the streets in protest; some army leaders revolted; the United States expressed its indignation.
Less than three weeks after his alleged election victory in February 1986, Marcos fled the Philippines.
Aquino became the acknowledged president of the republic.
The Presidency and Beyond Aquino admitted that she faced numerous challenges as the new Filipino president.
The release of 441 political prisoners and the forced retirement of 22 pro-Marcos generals were among her first actions as president.
Protecting the countryside was another of Aquino's goals.
In March 1986 Aquino proclaimed a provisional constitution and soon thereafter appointed a commission to write a new constitution. The resulting document, which restored the bicameral Congress abolished by Marcos in 1973, was ratified by a landslide popular vote in February 1987. Aquino held elections to the new Congress and broke up the monopolies held by Marcos’s allies over the economy, which experienced steady growth for several years. But she failed to undertake fundamental economic or social reforms, and her popularity steadily declined as she faced continual outcries over economic injustice and political corruption. These problems were exacerbated by persistent warfare between the communist insurgency and a military whose loyalties to Aquino were uncertain. In general, her economic policies were criticized for being mixed or faltering in the face of mass poverty. Aquino was succeeded in office by her former defense secretary, Fidel Ramos.
In 1991, a constitutional amendment was passed by referendum which enabled Aquino to remain president until June 30, 1992. Ramos won a close seven-way race in May 1992, and Aquino retired to private life.
Her successor was Fidel Ramos, her former secretary of defense and Marcos' former deputy chief of staff of the armed forces.
Ramos, who assisted Aquino in fending off the coup attempts, has continued to support Aquino's democratic ideals.
Aquino was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled the 21-year authoritarian rule of President Ferdinand E. Marcos and restored democracy to the Philippines. She was named Time magazine's "Woman of the Year" in 1986. In August 1999, Aquino was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 20 Most Influential Asians of the 20th century.
Throughout her life, Aquino was known to be a devout Roman Catholic.
Immediately after assuming the presidency, President Aquino issued Proclamation № 3, which established a revolutionary government. She abolished the 1973 Constitution that was in force during Martial Law, and by decree issued the provisional 1986 Freedom Constitution pending the ratification of a more formal, comprehensive charter. This allowed her to exercise both executive and legislative powers until the ratification of the 1987 Constitution and the restoration of Congress in 1987.
Aquino promulgated two landmark legal codes, namely, 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. Another landmark law that was enacted during her tenure was the 1991 Local Government Code, which devolved national government powers to local government units (LGUs). The new Code enhanced the power of LGUs to enact local taxation measures and assured them of a share in the national revenue. Aquino closed down the Marcos-dominated Batasang Pambansa to prevent the new Marcos loyalist opposition from undermining her democratic reforms and reorganized the membership of the Supreme Court to restore its independence.
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. This Supreme Court decision affirmed the status of Aquino as the rightful leader of the Philippines. To fast-track the restoration of a full constitutional government and the writing of a new charter, she appointed 48 members of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, led by retired activist Supreme Court Associate Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma. The Con-Com completed its final draft in October 1986. On February 2, 1987, the new Constitution of the Philippines, which put strong emphasis on civil liberties, human rights and social justice, was overwhelmingly approved by the Filipino people. The ratification of the new Constitution was followed by the election of senators and congress that same year and the holding of local elections in 1988.
In 1954 she married Benigno "Ninoy" S. Aquino, they had 5 children: Maria Elena , Aurora Corazon, Benigno Simeon III , Victoria Elisa and Kristina Bernadette.
