Revisiting Corazon

Aquino’s Speech
before the U.S.
Congress
CORAZON “CORY” COJUANGCO AQUINO
 Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino was
born in Tarlac, Philippines.
 She functioned as the symbol of the restoration of
democracy and the overthrow of the Marcos
Dictatorship in 1986.
 The widow of the slain Marcos oppositionist and
former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
 Cory was hoisted as the antithesis of the dictator.
 11th President and the first female president of the
Philippines and in Asia.
Historical context: Marcos vs. Aquino

 There was already a tension between Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and Benigno Aquino Jr.,
since they became the president and senator, Marcos hated Aquino for opposing
him so he accused Aquino of many things including being a communist which lead
him to start Martial Law and arresting Aquino.
 Ninoy’s eloquence and charisma could very well compete with that of Marcos.
Historical context: Ferdinand Marcos
 Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. was a
Filipino politician, lawyer,
dictator, and kleptocrat who served as the
tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to
1986.
 He ruled under martial law from 1972 until
1981 and kept most of his martial law powers until
he was deposed in 1986.
 One of the most controversial leaders of the 20th
century, Marcos' rule was infamous for its
corruption, human rights violation, and brutality.
Historical Context: Martial Law in the Philippines
 On the night of September 23, 1972, Ferdinand
Marcos spoke to the nation by television and by
radio to make it known that he had declared
Martial Law in the Philippines.
 Martial Law – (batas militar) it is a temporary
rule by military authorities of a designated area in
time of emergency when the civil authorities are
deemed unable to function.
 On this day, Marcos stole the Philippine
democracy. Institutions were shut down. People
were arrested and many were killed.
Historical Context: Martial Law in the Philippines

Why was Martial Law declared?

When Marcos signed Proclamation 1081
on September 21, 1972, he cited the
communist threat as justification. His
diary, meanwhile, said the proclamation of
Martial Law became a “necessity”,
following the supposed ambush of then
defense secretary Juan Ponce Enrile.
Historical Context: Martial Law in the Philippines
Historical Context: The People Power Revolution
 The EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986
was widely recognized around the world for its
peaceful character.

DEATH OF NINOY AQUINO

 When former senator Ninoy Aquino was shot
at the tarmac of the Manila International
Airport on August 21, 1983, the Marcos regime
greatly suffered a crisis of legitimacy.
 Protests from different sectors frequented
different areas of the country.
Historical Context: Snap Election
 Marcos had to do something to prove to his
alliance in the United States that he remained
to be a democratically anointed leader of the
country.
 He called for a Snap Election in February
1986, where Corazon Aquino, the widow of the
slain senator was convinced to run against
Marcos.
 The canvassing was rigged to Marcos’ favor
but people expressed their protests against the
corrupt and authoritarian government.
Historical Context: The People Power Revolution
 For a moment, everything seemed possible. From
February 22 to 25, 1986, thousands of Filipinos
gathered on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue to protest
President Ferdinand Marcos and his claim that he had
won re-election over Corazon Aquino.
 Civilians heeded the call of then Manila Archbishop
Jaime Cardinal Sin and other civilian leaders to gather
in EDSA.
 The overwhelming presence of Filipinos in EDSA
successfully turned a coup into a civilian
demonstration.
 The thousands of Filipinos who gathered overthrew
Ferdinand Marcos from the presidency after 21 years.
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS

 On September 18, 1986, seven months as a president, she went to the United States
and spoke before joining the session of the U.S. Congress.
 She was welcomed with long applause as she took the podium and addressed the
United States about her presidency and the challenges faced by the new republic.
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
“The government sought to break him by indignities
and terror. They locked him up in a tiny, nearly airless
cell in a military camp in the north. They stripped him
naked and held a threat of a sudden midnight execution
over his head. Ninoy held up manfully under all of it. I
barely did as well. For forty-three days, the authorities
would not tell me what had happened to him. This was
the first time my children and I felt we had lost him.”
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
“When that didn't work, they put him on trial for subversion,
murder and a host of other crimes before a military
commission. Ninoy challenged its authority and went on a
fast. If he survived it, then he felt God intended him for
another fate. We had lost him again. For nothing would hold
him back from his determination to see his fast through to the
end. He stopped only when it dawned on him that the
government would keep his body alive after the fast had
destroyed his brain. And so, with barely any life in his body,
he called off the fast on the 40th day. ”
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
“And then, we lost him irrevocably and more painfully than
in the past. The news came to us in Boston. It had to be after
the three happiest years of our lives together. But his death
was my country's resurrection and the courage and faith by
which alone they could be free again. The dictator had called
him a nobody. Yet, two million people threw aside their
passivity and fear and escorted him to his grave.”

“And so began the revolution that has brought me to

democracy's most famous home, The Congress of the United
States.
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
“I held fast to Ninoy's conviction that it must be by the ways of democracy. I held
out for participation in the 1984 election the dictatorship called, even if I knew it
would be rigged. I was warned by the lawyers of the opposition, that I ran the
grave risk of legitimizing the foregone results of elections that were clearly going
to be fraudulent. But I was not fighting for lawyers but for the people in whose
intelligence, I had implicit faith. By the exercise of democracy even in a
dictatorship, they would be prepared for democracy when it came. And then also, it
was the only way I knew by which we could measure our power even in the terms
dictated by the dictatorship. The people vindicated me in an election shamefully
marked by government thuggery and fraud. The opposition swept the elections,
garnering a clear majority of the votes even if they ended up (thanks to a corrupt
Commission on Elections) with barely a third of the seats in Parliament. Now, I
knew our power.”
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
“My predecessor set aside democracy to save it from a
communist insurgency that numbered less than five hundred.
Unhampered by respect for human rights he went at it with
hammer and tongs. By the time he fled, that insurgency had
grown to more than sixteen thousand. I think there is a lesson
here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with a means
by which it grows. ”
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
“Finally may I turn to that other slavery, our twenty-six
billion dollar foreign debt. I have said that we shall
honor it. Yet, the means by which we shall be able to
do so are kept from us. Many of the conditions
imposed on the previous government that stole this
debt, continue to be imposed on us who never
benefited from it.”
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
“Wherever I went in the campaign, slum area or impoverished
village. They came to me with one cry, DEMOCRACY. Not food
although they clearly needed it but DEMOCRACY. Not work,
although they surely wanted it but DEMOCRACY. Not money,
for they gave what little they had to my campaign. They didn't
expect me to work a miracle that would instantly put food into
their mouths, clothes on their back, education in their children and
give them work that will put dignity in their lives. But I feel the
pressing obligation to respond quickly as the leader of the people
so deserving of all these things.”
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
"Has there been a greater test of national commitment
to the ideals you hold dear than that my people have
gone through? You have spent many lives and much
treasure to bring freedom to many lands that were
reluctant to receive it. And here, you have a people
who want it by themselves and need only the help to
preserve it."
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
 The speech talks about her family background,
especially her relationship with her late husband Ninoy
Aquino.
 Cory talked at length about Ninoy’s toil and suffering at
the hands of the dictatorship that he resisted.
 The ideology or the principles of the new democratic
government can also be seen in the speech.
 Cory expressed her intention to pay off debts. Debts of
the dictator not the country.
 Continuing alliance between the Philippines and
America.
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
 The speech talks about her family background,
especially her relationship with her late husband Ninoy
Aquino.
 Cory talked at length about Ninoy’s toil and suffering at
the hands of the dictatorship that he resisted.
 The ideology or the principles of the new democratic
government can also be seen in the speech.
 Cory expressed her intention to pay off debts. Debts of
the dictator not the country.
 Continuing alliance between the Philippines and
America.
CORY’S SPEECH BEFORE THE U.S.
CONGRESS
 The speech talks about her family background,
especially her relationship with her late husband Ninoy
Aquino.
 Cory talked at length about Ninoy’s toil and suffering at
the hands of the dictatorship that he resisted.
 The ideology or the principles of the new democratic
government can also be seen in the speech.
 Cory expressed her intention to pay off debts. Debts of
the dictator not the country.
 Continuing alliance between the Philippines and
America.