Corazon Aquino, 1933-2009

I don’t quite know how to mourn and celebrate Corazon Aquino, except to improve my knowledge of her life and accomplishments. This is some of what I’ve learned so far:

She is the first woman president of the Philippines. She is the first woman president of any Asian country.

She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

She was Time Magazine’s Woman of the Year.

She won the 1986 Philippine presidential election despite aggressive illegal election-rigging by her opponent’s supporters.

Her political platform was peaceful, democratic reformation.

House Speaker Tip O’Neill called her 1986 speech at a joint session of the United States Congress “the finest speech I’ve ever heard in my 34 years in Congress.”

She won the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize.

She was a deeply religious woman.

She is called “Tita Cory” by Filipinos as a sign of endearment.

“In giving we receive, in losing we find, and out of defeat we snatched our victory.” —Corazon Aquino, speech before the United States Congress, September 18, 1986