Corazon Aquino, better known as “Cory” Aquino, died at a hospital in Manila on Friday at the age of 76.

Aquino, who became the first female president of the Philippines in 1986, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2008.

“Cory” Aquino became an icon of democracy when she assumed the presidency in the “People Power uprising,” ending Ferdinand Marco’s two-decade rule.

Aquino was reluctantly catapulted into politics after the 1983 assassination of her husband, Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., who was a leading figure in the opposition of President Marcos.

Selected as Time magazine’s Woman of the Year in 1986, Aquino was also nominated the same year to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, losing out to Elie Wiesel.

Aquino served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986-1992.

Following the end of her term, Aquino retired to private life. She led the PinoyME Foundation, a non-profit organization that assists microfinance institutions through the provision of loans. She also oversaw social welfare and scholarship assistance projects through the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation, and good governance advocacy through the EDSA People Power Commission, and the People Power People Movement.

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Filed under: World News