Corazon Aquino dies age 76

Mrs Aquino was catapulted into politics following the murder of her husband, the prominent Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, who had been preparing to run for president.

He had already spent seven years in prison following President Marcos's declaration of martial law, with his wife as his only contact with the outside world.

Mrs Aquino said of her husband's death: "What is more important is that he did not die in vain and that his sacrifice, certainly, awakened the Filipino people from their apathy and indifference."

After winning the presidential elections in 1986, she went on to run a country deeply divided after years of martial law and communist insurgency.

She battled several coup attempts against her rule, protected the country's fledgling democracy and freed political prisoners.

.....
She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 and later received several awards and citations for her work to promote democracy and human rights.

Tribute from president

The current president of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo, announced 10 days of national mourning.

Click to expand...

On August 21, 1983, while on his way to Manila, Ninoy Aquino was accompanied by several foreign journalists to ensure his safety or, at the very least, to record events for posterity in case rumors of a planned assassination proved to be true ...

... Despite a convoy of security guards (all assigned to him by the Marcos government) and a contingent of 2,000 military and police personnel on the tarmac, Aquino was fatally shot in the head as he was escorted off the airplane. ...

... The government claimed that Aquino was killed by a Communist hitman. However, politicians and diplomats found evident contradictions between the claim and the photos and the videotape footage that documented the time before and after the shooting. The footage had circulated throughout the Philippines at that time

Click to expand...