SPEECH OF CORAZON AQUINO BEFORE

THE JOINT SESSION OF THE U.S. CONGRESS

EMBODO
THE SPEECH
 01. Nation’s Hero
For the Nation, Ninoy became the pleasing sacrifice that answered their
prayers for freedom.
 02. Democracy
You saw a nation, armed with courage and integrity, stand fast by
democracy against threats and corruption.
 03. Painful Death
But his death was my country’s resurrection in the courage and faith by
which alone they could be free again.
 04. Victory
At the end of the day, before another wave of fraud could distort the
results, I announced the people’s victory.
CORAZON “CORY” AQUINO
INTENT OF THE SPEECH
DUMAYAS
THE SPEECH
 When former President Corazon Aquino spoke before a joint session of the
United States Congress in September of 1986, the dust was only beginning
to settle. It was her first visit to America since the dictator Ferdinand
Marcos had been deposed in February of the same year, and the
Philippines was reckoning with everything his administration had inflicted.
That included $26 billion in total foreign debt, and a communist insurgency
that grew, throughout the Marcos era, from 500 armed guerillas to 16,000.
We were just at the start of a long road to recovery.
 So Aquino lodged an appeal for help. Addressing the House, she delivered a
historic speech that managed to sway in our favor the vote for an
 emergency $200-million aid appropriation, and asked for financial aid
towards rebuilding the Philippine economy.
 “We fought for honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay,” she said,
agreeing to pay the debt that was stolen by Marcos. “And yet, should we
have to wring the payments from the sweat of our men’s faces and sink all
the wealth piled up by the bondsman’s two hundred fifty years of
unrequited toil?”
HOW’S THE SPEECH?
 The speech was impassioned, deeply personal, and effective; interrupted
11 times by applause and bookended with standing ovations. House
Speaker Tip O’Neill called it the “finest speech I’ve ever heard in my 34
years in Congress.” Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole told her, “Cory, you
hit a home run.” And House Minority Whip Trent Lott said, “Let’s just say
the emotion of the moment saved the day.” It would go down in the annals
of our history as one of the former President’s finest speeches.