Maria Corazon Cojuangco Sumulong (25 January 1933 – 1 August 2009), better known as Corazon "Cory" Aquino, was President of the Philippines from 25 February 1986 to 30 June 1992, succeeding Ferdinand Marcos and preceding Fidel Ramos. She was the first female president in Asia, and she restored democracy to her country with the People Power Revolution of 1986.
Biography[]
Maria Corazon Cojuangco Sumulong was born in Tarlac, Luzon, Philippines on 25 January 1933, and her family moved to the United States in 1946. She graduated from Mount Saint Vincent College in 1953 and married the journalist Benigno Aquino, Jr. a year later. She lived with her husband in the United States from 1980 to 1983 due to her husband's status as a political rival of Ferdinand Marcos' fascist military regime, but she returned to take her husband's place in the Senate upon his assassination in 1983. She launched a defiant campaign in the 1986 elections, and she claimed victory at the polls on 9 February 1986. She came to power despite Marcos' refusal to yield, having the support of the public and the army on her side. While in office, sh efought against communist resistance movements and made peace with Muslim secessionists and the Cordillera People's Liberation Army. She did not carry out any major social or economic reforms, refraining from land reforms so that the country would remain stable. She did not run for re-election, with her favored candidate Fidel Ramos succeeding her. She died of colorectal cancer in 2009, and her son Benigno Aquino III would later become president.