Corazon Aquino

María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino (born January 25, 1933), widely known as Cory Aquino, was President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the wife of the popular opposition senator Benigno Aquino Jr., and when he was assassinated at then Manila International Airport on his return from exile on August 21, 1983, Cory Aquino became the focus of the opposition to the autocratic rule of President Ferdinand Marcos.

Early life and career

Maria Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco was born in Manila into one of the richest families in the Philippines, the powerful Cojuangcos of Tarlac province. Her mother's family, the Sumulongs, also belong to a political family in Rizal. She has Malay, Chinese, and Spanish roots.

Related Topics:
Manila - Tarlac - Rizal - Malay - Chinese - Spanish

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She grew up privileged, sent overseas to study in Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia, the Notre Dame Convent School in New York, and Mount St. Vincent College, also in New York. She studied mathematics and graduated with a degree in French in 1953.

Related Topics:
Ravenhill Academy - Philadelphia - Notre Dame Convent School - New York - Mount St. Vincent College - 1953

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She returned to the Philippines to study law at Far Eastern University, but in 1955 she married Benigno Aquino Jr., who had just been elected mayor of Concepción in Tarlac province at the age of 22. She eventually bore him five children: a son, Benigno III, and four daughters, Maria Elena, Aurora, Victoria, and Kristina. Ninoy rose to be governor and senator, then under the Marcos regime was arrested, sentenced to death, and exiled. She accompanied him into exile in 1980. He was later assassinated on August 21, 1983 upon arrival from a 3-year exile in the United States at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport, which was later renamed in his honor. After his death she was convinced by the friends and supporters of Ninoy to enter into politics as head of the Laban coalition.

Related Topics:
Far Eastern University - 1955 - Benigno Aquino Jr. - Concepción - Tarlac - Benigno III - Maria Elena - Aurora - Victoria - Kristina - Ninoy - 1980 - August 21, 1983 - United States - Manila International Airport - Laban

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When Ferdinand Marcos unexpectedly called for a presidential election in February 1986, the opposition united behind Aquino to oppose the Marcos regime. Although she was officially reported to have lost the election to Marcos, the elections were widely believed to be fraudulent. Both Marcos and Aquino claimed to have won, and held rival inaugurations on February 25, but Marcos then fled in the face of huge popular demonstrations and the refusal of the military to intervene against them.

Related Topics:
Ferdinand Marcos - February - 1986 - February 25

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