Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino, who got rid of a dictator with a revolt and kept democracy alive by warding off seven coup attempts, died on Friday. She was 76 years of age.
The rebellion she spearheaded back in 1986 ended the twenty-year reign of Ferdinand Marcos and inspired other nonviolent protests around the world.
Corazon’s son, Senator Benigno S. Aquino III, A.K.A. Noynoy, released a statement informing the public that she died at 3:18am. She had been hospitalized in Manila for more than a month with advanced colon cancer. That same cancer then spread to other organs and she was too weak to continue chemotherapy.
Mrs. Aquino brought hope to the Philippines as a presidential candidate, then led its difficult transition to democracy after 20 years of autocratic rule under Marcos.
Corazon Aquino left office in 1992.
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