The Woman Who Taught the World About Democracy: Cory Aquino

In our series of people who left their mark on the world, we will meet Maria Corazon Cojuanco Aquino (Cory Aquino), who, after Mother Teresa, wrote an extraordinary story of revolution in the Philippines and set an example to the whole world through the democracy she drew.

Throughout the content, we will briefly touch upon Cory Aquino’s youth years, his wife Benigno and the Dictator President of the Philippines Marcos so that we can better understand his battle for democracy. If you are ready; Let’s examine the epic of democracy that spread from the Philippines to the whole world.

First of all, what is the Philippines, where is it; let’s grasp it

• Philippines’ place on the world map and for those who haven’t seen it before, the flag of the Republic of the Philippines

Geographically and culturally If we need to give a very short summary about the Philippines, which is far away from us; The Republic of the Philippines, a Southeast Asian country consisting of 7641 islands and islets, if we do not count the sea in between; It is a neighboring state with China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Philippines’ capital city is Manila and the state has a population of around 108 million today. We often hear the name of the Philippines, which is the twelfth largest country in the world in terms of population, in the main news bulletins, together with serious earthquakes, due to its location in the Pacific Earthquake Belt. In addition, the Philippines is one of the countries with the highest biodiversity in the world due to its geographical location.

The childhood and youth years of Cory Aquino

Cory Aquino; He was born on January 25, 1933, in Tarlac, Philippines, into a wealthy and influential family. Even at a very young age, he received training in Catholic schools to show his devotion to his religious belief and to increase this commitment.

Aquino, who is described as intelligent, hardworking, elegant, religious and shy by his environment; After completing his university education in Canada in 1954, he returned to his native Philippines.

Marrying ambitious journalist Benigno; actually unaware of what he was saying yes to

Cory Aquino began his law studies after returning to his country. In the same years, she married journalist Benigno Simeon Igno Aquino, who published harsh criticism against the dictator Marcos, who had an autocratic rule in the country.

After this marriage, Cory Aquino; He ended his law education and career plans. Aquino, who is completely a housewife, had 5 children as a result of this marriage and devoted her life completely to her family.

Benigno’s rapid rise and Marcos’ panic

While he was a dissident journalist, Benigno, who rose to the position of both deputy and governor in our country, supported the public. and with this wind he caught, he decided to overthrow the dictator Marcos. Benigno, who was making an even stronger opposition with each passing day, was making Marcos quite uncomfortable.

If we need to know briefly about Marcos’ own story…

• Ferdinand Marcos

Ferdinand Marcos , declaring that the Philippines played a very key role in the freedom war (although the Official US Archives denied this information), declared himself a national hero, and in 1965 with harsh election propaganda, the IV. He was elected as the first head of state of the Republican Era.

Marcos declared martial law in 1972, citing the danger of Communism in the Philippines, due to growing grumbles and whispers of rebellion under Benigno’s leadership. During this period, many opposition politicians and journalists, especially Benigno, were detained and sentenced to indefinite imprisonment. If you wish, the continuation of the story is not from Marcos, who went to a military and dictatorial regime; Let’s continue by returning to the Aquino Family.

Marcos consolidates his authority after Benigno’s imprisonment

• Mr and Mrs Marcos, left

1973 Benigno’s health was deteriorating due to the unfavorable prison conditions. Again in this process, especially with Benigno’s imprisonment, the people also submitted to Marcos’ military and dictatorial rule. Seeing this as an opportunity, Marcos decided to make an election in order to improve his relations with the USA and other states.

Marcos would have made the election decision, showing that he was democratic and would have further consolidated his authority. In the 1978 campaign led by Benigno from prison, Marcos shadily emerged victorious.

Benigno’s worsening health and leaving the country

• Benigno’s course of treatment in the USA

Independent reports published after the 1978 Elections revealed that 70% of Marcos’ votes were questionable, but despite this, Benigno and his supporters were unable to fight Marcos. Both the military rule and Benigno’s worsening health were effective in this.

With the intervention of Jimmy Carter, the US President of the time; Benigno and his family went to the USA in 1980 for treatment of heart disease.

When Benigno got better, he set out to save his country

• His children were very fond of Benigno. The square above confirms this statement.

Benigno, who went to the USA with his family for treatment in 1980, set out to return to his country after a 3-year treatment period. On his way back, he wanted his wife, Croy Aquino, and their five children to stay in the United States because he feared that Marcos would be sent back to prison or even imprison his family.

Where the fate of the Philippines changed: Manila International Airport

Precision Image!!!

Returning to his native Philippines alone in 1983, Benigno was assassinated at Manila International Airport on the orders of Marcos and died.

After Benigno died at the scene, clouds of fear enveloped the Philippines. With this assassination, Marcos stifled even the slightest dissent in his country, or so he thought.

The footage of Benigno’s assassination (camera recordings of the press members inside the plane)

• If you wish, You can access the images more conveniently by clicking the link at the end of the content.

Mrs. Aquino takes over the flag from her husband and takes the stage of democracy

Cory Aquino, who was extremely shy and never involved in politics until the day he lost his wife; With the death of her husband, she accepted the responsibility of the People of the Philippines and the duties left unfinished by her husband, and took it upon herself. Not a single person in the Philippines, including Marcos, expected such an exit from Aquino. Aquino immediately came to his country and started working.

Dictator Leader Marcos saw the “I took over the flag from my wife” statement by housewife Aquino, who is known for her calm, ladylike character and shy identity, as a new election victory. As a matter of fact, Marcos won the election against Aquino; he could show other states the image of a democratic leader.

Aquino’s harsh opposition and Marcos’ dominant election decision

Aquino’s harsh and effective opposition, which started the work of 1987 Elections and fell into the squares, both Marcos also created a cold shower effect on the public. No one expected such a leadership output from Aquino, and frankly, still no one could believe what they saw and heard.

Realizing Aquino’s massive support from the people, Marcos decided that he could only stop this rise with an early and dominant election, and in February 1986 he made a dominant snap election.

Both candidates declared themselves president, Aquino called the people to the squares

Opposition parties in the Philippines, Aquino, who left a serious impact on the public, named Aquino as Marcos. nominated him as a joint candidate against him. In the early election (raid) held on February 7, 1986, the current President Marcos declared that he had won the election with 54% of the vote and an unofficial result.

Aquino and his supporters objected to the election result. Aquino’s team announced that in their analysis, Aquino should have received at least 54% of the vote. Following this statement, Aquino declared that he would not accept Marcos’ winning the election by objecting to the unofficial election results, without waiting for the official election results to be announced. Then he called the people to the squares to support him.

The military administration was also divided into two, the country came to the brink of civil war

While Marcos, who ruled the country with a military administration, was waiting for support from the military wing, the army was divided into two. While a part of the army supports the current President Marcos; the other part announced that Aquino won the election and that he could not let Aquino be defeated. This disagreement of the military administration could drag the country into a serious civil war.

Dictator Marcos leaving the country and Aquino being declared President

With their consecutive press releases on 25 February 1986, both Marcos and Aquino, proclaimed themselves the official head of state of the Republic of the Philippines. The 21-year dictatorship regime in the Philippines ended with Marcos leaving the country, as the officers supported by the USA, which is an effective power in the Philippines, also supported Aquino and the USA withdrew its support for Marcos.

In the same week, the new Philippine Government headed by Aquino was officially recognized by the United States. In the Philippines, which was ruled by a dictatorship for 21 years, Aquino’s first job was to draft a new and democratic constitution. In March 1986, an interim constitution was proclaimed in the country and the country was governed by this interim constitution until February 1987.

Aquino wrote and continues to write a complete epic of democracy

President Aquino, who adopted and implemented the democratic management approach of the Republic of the Philippines, and his wife Benigno Recognizing Manila International Airport, in which , , died as a result of assassination, the beginning of the struggle for the democratic process; changed the name of the airport to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Ninoy, Benigno’s middle name).

In addition, the day of the assassination was declared a national holiday in the Philippines every year as Democracy Day. With the constitution ready in February 1987, the constitutional proposal was submitted to a referendum in its full form. With the great support of the people, this democratic constitution and administration was also accepted.

I completed my task, it’s time to rename the seat…

Philippines’ first female President When we arrived in 1992; “I set out to bring democracy and freedom to this country and I did this with the new constitution. He declared that he would not be a candidate again, saying, “I will not be a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections so that I can transfer the flag I got from my wife to someone else.”

In the new and democratic constitution adopted during the Cory Aquino era, the clause “a person can only be elected president once” was added so that a dictatorship like Marcos would not arise again. Despite the fact that both lawyers and party leaders said, “You were elected president before the constitution was adopted, there is no harm in being a candidate legally,” Aquino did not become a candidate, stating that it would not be right to be a candidate.

Aquino continued his work without slowing down

In the 1992 elections, Fidel Ramos from Aquino’s party was elected as the new president. After Aquino handed the seat to Ramos, he returned home in his extremely modest vehicle. After her presidency, Aquino devoted herself to women’s movements and prioritized communities advocating for women’s rights.

Mother of Democracy was instrumental in a new flag change while she passed away

• The five children of the Aquino Couple, on the left; Simeon Aquino, one of the five children, right

One of the rare women who can put her name on the list of revolutionaries who changed the course of the world, Aquino was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2008. As a result of his battle with cancer, Aquino died on August 1, 2009 at the age of 76

Following the death of Aquino, in line with the demand from the public and parties, Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino, the only son of the 5 children of the Aquino couple, is a candidate for the presidential elections. and served as the head of state from 2010 to 2016.

What Aquino did and could not bring to his people while he was in office

Cory Aquino first brought the country into a transitional period with a temporary constitution while he was in office, and then a new one. made it fully democratic with the constitution. He limited the presidential terms to one time so that a dictatorship like Marcos would never happen again.

He had to make concessions due to economic conditions on issues such as agricultural reform and land redistribution promised to his people during the election process. Although the USA did not support Aquino in the face of Marcos’ dictatorship; President Cory Aquino has fought politically for the closure of US bases in the Philippines.

suffered 6 coup attempts during his 6-year tenure

Although Dictator Marcos, Former President of the Philippines left the country, he continues to support Marcos. Some military groups that attacked President Aquino’s administration attempted a coup 6 times, but all these attempts were blocked by both popular support and the army supporting Aquino.

The difficulty of Aquino being a woman in the process leading up to the revolution

Cory Aquino, while opposing the Dictator Leader Marcos, was directed by Marcos as “Aquino is just a woman. and the only place it should be is the bedroom” was actually the summary of the Philippines.

Until the time of Aquino’s presidency in the Philippines, women could not see the value they deserve in social life and in the eyes of the state. Cory Aquino, after being elected president and even after her term expired, struggled for women’s inclusion in social life and respect by the state.

8 March International Women’s Day Day

Aquino, who made positive discrimination against women with the responsibilities he took in non-governmental organizations as long as he was in the administration and after his term expired, He declared Women’s Day an official holiday in the Philippines and issued an important statement for this official holiday, which is the National Women’s Day.

Aquino has been honored by the world many times with his success

Cory Aquino, with the courage he gathered on the day he lost his wife, signed a revolution that no one could even imagine. This adventure of success and victory was followed with interest by the world.

When the process was over, Aquino was named woman of the year by Time. She was once again included in Time’s list of the 20 most influential Asian people of the 20th century, she. Aquino, who was also honored by the United Nations; She won prestigious awards such as the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award and the ICRW award.

• Aquino Couple’s 4 daughters, sons, 3 son-in-laws and 4 grandchildren are in the same frame. In the other frame, Aquino is sworn in for the presidency.

All these prestigious awards aside; Aquino is still revered in his country today as the Mother of Democracy.

An anecdote about his constant preference for yellow

If you have paid attention throughout the content, you may have noticed that Aquino pays special attention to the color yellow when choosing clothes. You rarely see photos of Aquino that do not contain yellow. This is not a coincidence or fashion trend. When Cory Aquino’s wife, Benigno, announced that she would be returning to her country while in the United States before she passed away, the public would greet her with yellow ribbons.

In Tony Orlando’s song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon”, the yellow ribbon represented hope, returning. When Benigno passed away, his wife Cory Aquino carried the yellow ribbon and yellow color as his wife’s legacy from the first day he took to the streets. The public always commemorated the Aquino couple with yellow ribbons.

Have you heard the story of Cory Aquino before? What do you think of Aquino’s story? You can share your thoughts in the comments section.

*You can find in-flight images of Benigno Aquino here.

Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 /