Corazon Aquino

Corazon Aquino married Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., a vocal critic of Ferdinand Marcos, and raised five children while her husband challenged the regime. After his assassination on August 21, 1983, she became leader of the opposition. When Marcos called a snap election in late 1985, she ran for president with Salvador Laurel; Marcos declared himself the winner, but allegations of fraud triggered massive civil disobedience. The non-violent People Power Revolution unfolded from February 22 to 25, 1986, backed by the Catholic Church and military defectors, and on February 25 she was sworn in as the first female president in Philippine history. She spearheaded the 1987 Constitution, which dismantled dictatorial structures, restored the bicameral Congress, and enshrined social justice as a principle of governance; her economic policies broke apart Marcos-era monopolies and her administration created the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao through peace talks. Her government weathered coup attempts, the Mendiola Massacre, and a string of natural disasters including the 1990 Luzon earthquake and the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. She left office in 1992, was diagnosed