Reporting

Readings in the Philippines History

BSA-2B
Name: Cureg, Maryclare Francesca S.
Hou, Tintin L.

I.Introduction

Maria Corazon Aquino Cojuangco known as Corazon Aquino was born on January 25, 1933. Her
father is Jose Cojuangco, a businessman, and a former congressman, and her mother is a
pharmacist named Demetria Sumulong. She was the sixth born child. Corazon Aquino was born
into a wealthy family in Tarlac province, north of manila.

She graduated Elementary where she was a valedictorian in St. Scholastica’s College in Manila.
She goes to Assumption convent to study high school. She attended Ravenhill Academy in
Philadelphia, which is run by the Assumption after her family relocated to the United States. She
then proceeded to the New York City-based Notre Dame Convent School, where she graduated in
1949. She pursued her college at Mount St. Vincent college in New York City where she took a
Major in French and a Minor in mathematics.

When Corazon Aquino finished college she returned to the Philippines to study law in 1953, she
met Benigno Aquino Jr. or known as Ninoy Aquino. She got married in 1954 and did not continue
her law education. They have 5 children in total namely Maria Elena, Aurora Corazon, Benigno
Simeon III, Victoria Elisa and Kristina Bernadette.

Benigno Aquino Jr. emerged as a leading critic of the government of President Ferdinand Marcos,
he became seen as a strong candidate for president to succeed Marcos in the 1973 elections. He
was among the first to be arrested at the onset of martial law and was later sentenced to death.
During her husband's incarceration, Corazon Aquino stopped going to beauty salons or buying
new clothes and prohibited her children from attending parties, until a priest advised her and her
children to try to live as normal lives as possible.

Benigno Aquino Jr. decided to run in the 1978 Batasang Pambansa elections from his prison cell
as party leader of the newly created LABAN. In 1980 Benigno Aquino Jr. suffered a heart attack,
and Marcos allowed Senator Aquino and his family to leave for exile in the US upon intervention
from US President Jimmy Carter so that Aquino could seek medical treatment. On August 21,
1983, Benigno Aquino Jr. ended his stay in the US and returned without his family to the
Philippines, where he was ASSASSINATED on a staircase leading to the tarmac of Manila
International Airport.

Following her husband's assassination in 1983, Corazon Aquino became active in various
demonstrations held against the Marcos Regime. She began to assume the mantle of leadership
left by her husband and became a figurehead of the Anti-Marcos political opposition. On February
7, 1986, Marcos suddenly announce SNAP ELECTION. On December 1, the petition of 1.2
million signatures was publicly presented to Aquino in an event attended by 15,000, and on
December 3, Aquino officially declared her candidacy.
Snap Election was held on February 7, 1986. On February 11, while votes were still tabulated,
former Antique province Governor and director of Aquino's Campaign was assassinated. During
the tallying of votes conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), 30 poll computer
technicians walked out to contest the alleged election-rigging being done in favor of Marcos. On
February 15, 1986, the Batasang Pambansa, which was dominated by Marcos' ruling party and its
allies, declared President Marcos as the winner of the election. However, NAMFREL's electoral
count showed that Corazon Aquino had won. Aquino claimed victory according to NAMFREL's
electoral count and called a rally dubbed "Tagumpay ng Bayan" the following day to protest the
declaration by the Batasang Pambansa.

On February 22, 1986, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel V. Ranos surprised
the nation and the international community by the announcement of their defection from the
Marcos government, citing a strong belief that Aquino was the real winner in the contested
presidential election. Enrile, Ramos, and rebel soldiers then set up operations in Camp Aguinaldo,
the headquarter of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Camp Crame, the headquarters of the
Philippines Constabulary, across Epifanio de Los Santos Avenue (EDSA). At that time, Aquino
was meditating in a Carmelite convent in Cebu and upon learning it, Aquino and Cardinal Sin
appeared on Radyo Veritas to rally behind Minister Enrile and General Ramos. Aquino then flew
back to Manila to prepare for the takeover of the Government. After three days of peaceful mass
protest primarily centered at EDSA called the PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION, Aquino was
sworn in as the eleventh president of the Philippines.

Aquino is the first female president of the Philippines and is still the only president of the
Philippines to have never held any prior political position. Aquino is regarded as the first female
president in Asia. Transitional government and creation of new constitution On February 25,
1986- the first day of her administration. F

Proclamation No. 1- reorganize the government and called on all officials appointed by Marcos to
resign, starting with members of the Supreme Court. After the issuance of Proclamation No. 1, all
15 members of the Supreme court submitted their resignations.

Proclamation No. 3- announced a transitional government into a democratic system. She abolished
the 1973 Constitution that was in force during the martial law era, and by a decree issued the
provisional 1986 Freedom Constitution, pending the ratification of a more formal and
comprehensive charter. This constitutional allowed her to exercise both executive and legislative
powers during the period of the transitional government. Aquino appointed all 48 members of the
1986 Constitutional Commission (Con-Com), led by retired activist and former Supreme Court
Associate Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, which was tasked with writing a new constitution. The
Commission completed its final draft of the Constitution in October 1986. On February 2, 1987,
the constitution of the Philippines was ratified by a nationwide plebiscite. The constitution
established a bill of rights and a three-branch government consisting of the executive department,
the legislative department, and the judicial department. The constitution restores the bicameral
Congress, which in 1973 had been abolished by Marcos and replaced with first the Batasang Bayan
and later the Batasang Pambansa. The ratification of the new Constitution was soon followed by
the Election of senators and the Election of House of Representative members on May 11, 1987,
as well as local elections on January 18, 1988.

On 24 March 2008, Aquino's family announced that the former president had been diagnosed with
colorectal cancer. Upon her being earlier informed by her doctors that she had only three months
to live, she pursued medical treatment and chemotherapy. A series of healing Masses for Aquino,
who was a devout Catholic, was held throughout the country for her recovery. In a public statement
during one healing Mass on 13 May 2008, Aquino said that her blood tests indicated that she was
responding well to treatment, although her hair and appetite loss were apparent. By July 2009,
Aquino was reported to be suffering from loss of appetite and in very serious condition. At that
time she was confined to Makati Medical Center. It was later announced that Aquino and her
family had decided to stop chemotherapy and other medical interventions for her. Aquino died in
the Makati Medical Center at 3:18 a.m. on 1 August 2009 due to cardiorespiratory arrest at the age
of 76.

II. Projects
Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation - She was a chairperson on this foundation which she set up
in her husband's honor after his assassination.

Supported the Gawad Kalinga - Social housing project for the poor and homeless

Helped establish the PinoyME Foundation - a non-profit organization that aims to provide
microfinancing programs and projects for the poor.

Aquino also painted and occasionally gave away her paintings to friends and family or action her
paintings and donated the proceeds to charity. She never sold her art for her profit.

"Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law" (CARP) paved the way for the redistribution of
agricultural lands from landowners to tenant farmers. Landowners were paid in exchange by the
government through just compensation and were also not allowed to retain more than five hectares
of land. The law also allowed corporate landowners to "voluntarily divest a proportion of their
capital stock, equity or participation in favor of their workers or other qualified beneficiaries"
instead of turning over their land to the government for redistribution.

III. Problems

President Aquino inherited the debt of the Marcos Administration

- Throughout the tenure of President Ferdinand Marcos, government foreign debt had
ballooned from less than $3 billion in 1970 to $28 billion by the end of his administration.
The debt had badly tarnished the international credit standing and economic reputation of
the country.

Controversy on Hacienda Luisita

 a 6,453-hectare estate located in the Province of Tarlac which she and her siblings inherited
from her father José Cojuangco. Instead of land distribution, Hacienda Luisita reorganized
itself into a corporation and distributed stock. As such, ownership of agricultural portions
of the hacienda was transferred to the corporation, which in turn, gave its shares of stocks
to farmers. Critics argued that Aquino bowed to pressure from relatives by allowing stock
redistribution instead of land redistribution under CARP.

Mendiola Massacre and Cabinets Infighting

 12 citizens were killed and 51 were injured in the Mendiola Massacre. The incident was
initially a peaceful protest by agrarian workers and farmers who had marched to the historic
Mendiola Street near the Malacañan Palace to demand genuine land reform. The massacre
occurred when Marines fired at farmers who tried to go beyond the designated demarcation
line set by the police.

Closing of the United States military bases

 Several Philippine senators declared that the presence of U.S. military forces in the
Philippines was an affront to national sovereignty. The senators called for the United States
military to vacate U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay and Clark Air Base, and Aquino opposed
their demand.[62] The United States objected by stating that they had leased the property
and that the leases were still in effect.[63] The United States stated that the facilities at
Subic Bay were unequaled anywhere in Southeast Asia and a U.S. pullout could make all
of that region of the world vulnerable to an incursion by the Soviet Union or by a resurgent
Japan. Another issue with the demand was that thousands of Filipinos worked at these
military facilities and they would lose their jobs if the U.S. military moved out. Aquino
opposed the Senate's demand and believed that the bases should have remained. Aquino
organization a protest against the pullout, which only gathered between 100,000 and
150,000 supporters, far short of the 500,000 to 1 million that had been originally expected.

Electrical Power Grid Inadequacy

 During Aquino's presidency, electric blackouts became common in Manila. The city
experienced 7–12 hours-long blackouts, which severely affected its businesses. By the
departure of Aquino in June 1992, businesses in Manila and nearby provinces had lost
nearly $800 million since the preceding March.
 Corazon Aquino's decision to deactivate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which
was built during the Marcos administration, contributed to further electricity crises in the
1990s, as the 620 megawatts capacity of the plant would have been enough to cover the
shortfall at that time.


Natural Disasters and Calamities

November 1991, the tropical typhoon Thelma is also known as the Typhoon Uring killed
about 6,000 people wherein it is believed to be the deadliest typhoon. On November 1, the
super typhoon Sisang killed nearly 1,036 people destroying not just the rice fields but also
farms and coastal villages. October 1988 hurricane Unsang hit focal Luzon with many
gigantic passes and harm in November 1990. Super hurricane Ruping hit the Visayas,
 leaving 784 lives in streak floods and avalanches since the most noticeably terrible Storm
Nitang in 1984, and in October 1989 super tropical storm Tasing in northern Luzon hit 47
individuals who likewise passed on years before SuperStorm John. Streak floods in the
northern areas of Luzon killed 36 individuals when Storm Minding sneaked in August
1986. The most exceedingly awful before Tropical storm Pepeng in 2009. During Aquino's
residency, the MS Doña Paz, the world's most noticeably terrible twentieth-century
peacetime sea calamity, happened on December 1

Cory Aquino vs Beltran

Luis Beltran, who was a Filipino writer, became infamous for mentioning in a segment
about the 1987 upset endeavor that then-President Corazon Aquino had been covering up
under the bed during the overthrow. For this assertion, he was sued by the President for
defamation. Aquino ventured to such an extreme as to show columnists that she was unable
to fit under her bed. Beltran, who straightforwardly communicated his conviction that the
President was deficient in ability, countered that his words were not intended to be taken
in a real sense, yet Aquino sought after the argument against him and the STAR's
supervisor in-boss Max Soliven. On 22 October 1992, the court controlled in support of
Aquino, condemning the journalist and his supervisor to 2 years of detainment and
requesting them to pay 2 million pesos in upright harms. The Court of Claims later
switched the choice of the preliminary court and absolved Beltran
IV. Quiz
1. Who is the first female president of the Philippine Republic?
2. She was the one who restored the democratic rule country.
3. How did former President Corazon Aquino’s husband go to jail?
4. The president who spanned from 1986-1992?
5. When was former President Corazon Aquino born?
6. Who is the son of the former President Corazon Aquino who is also a former
President?
7. In what year did Corazon Aquino become President?
8. What is the cause of death of Corazon Aquino?
9. Where was Benigno Aquino Jr. Assassinated?
10. Why Corazon Aquino gave up her studies in FEU?
11. Benigno Aquino Jr. decided to run in the 1978 Batasang Pambansa elections from
his prison cell as party leader of the newly created ______?
12. Cory Aquino was the _th President of the Philippines
13. Who is the husband of Corazon Aquino?
14. Where did Corazon Aquino pursue her college in New York City where she took a
Major in French and a Minor in mathematics?
15. Aquino became known for what sort of political activity?
16. How did Aquino's family make money?
17. What did President Ferdinand Marcos do in 1972?
18. What happened to Aquino's husband after the president declared martial law?
19. What did Aquino do following her husband's killing?
20. What was the name given to the revolution that swept Aquino into power
 V. References
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Corazon-Aquino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benigno_Aquino_Jr.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corazon_Aquino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Corazon_Aquino
https://r3.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/264304-cory-aquino-libel-suit-vs-beltran-not-
deemed-press-freedom-issue