REVISITING
CORAZON
AQUINO’S
SPEECH
BEFORE
THE U.S.
CONGRESS
LET US KNOW
FIRST, WHO IS
CORAZON
AQUINO?
BIOGRAPHY:
• Maria Corazon Cojuanco-Aquino as
known as “Cory Aquino’’
• Born: January 25, 1933, Tarlac
Province
• Died: August 1, 2009, Makati
• 11th President of the Philippines
• First Female President of the
Philippines (Feb. 25, 1986 – June 30,
1992)
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:
Elementary (St. Scholastica’s College
Manila)
High School (Assumption College,
Manila)
College Education (College of Mount
Saint Vincent, New York)
Studied Law (Far Eastern
University,Manila)
HUSBAND AND CHILDREN:
• Husband: Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
• Children:
Maria Elena Aquino
Aurora Corazon Aquino
Benigno Simeon Aquino III
Victoria Elisa Aquino
Kristina Bernadette Aquino
SUMMARY OF THE SPEECH
Ninoy Stories
Her Democracy and View
Story of the PPR (People Power Revolution)
Philippine Debt
Insurgency
Compliments of America
Last Paragraph
NINOY STORIES:
• Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was the
husband of Corazon Aquino.
• According to her Ninoy Fight for the
Democracy of our nation and was
honoured by everyone.
• He was locked in a tiny and airless
military camp in the North.
• Her husband was full of
determination and faith in God.
HER DEMOCRATIC VIEW
It was included in her
speech how the task was
fallen in her shoulder to
continue offering the
democratic alternative to the
Filipinos.
After her husband died, she
continue fighting for the
democracy of our nation.
She serves the Filipino
THE STORY OF THE
PEOPLE POWER
REVOLUTION
• SNAP ELECTION
August 21, 1983, The assassination
of Benigno Aquino Jr. is the
beginning of Ferdinand Marcos
downfall.
The US government thought that
Marcos lost his credibility or
control of the people, and so
Marcos called for a snap election in
PEOPLE’S VICTORY & POWER
Due to uncontrolled cheating and violence, snap election is
considered as a fraud.
Batasang Pambansa declared Ferdinand Marcos the winner together
with his running mate, Arturo Tolentino.
Defections from the Armed force of the Philippines and the support
of the local Catholic hierarchy led to the People Power Revolution
that ousted Marcos and secured Aquino’s accession on February 25,
1986.
Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel V. Ramos helped Cory and participated
to people power.
As stated by Cory Aquino “at the end of the day, before another
wave of fraud distort the results, I announced the people’s victory.”
PEOPLE INVOLVED IN PEOPLE POWER:
I. Juan Ponce Enrile
Filipino politician and lawyer
Protege of President Ferdinand Marcos One of the leaders of 1986 People
Power Revolution that drove Marcos from power and into exile
II. General Fidel V. Ramos
Popularly known as FVR and Eddie
Filipino General and Politician
He is the only career military officer who reached the rank of 5-star admiral
who rose from the 2nd lieutenant up to commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
III.Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin
Powerful Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila who used his influenced to
champion his rights of the poor and rally the widespread resistance that brought
down Ferdinand Marcos.
Radio Veritas for Truth
EDSA REVOLUTION
The People Power Revolution also known as the EDSA (Epifanio de los
Santos Avenue) Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of February 22-
25, 1986.
The assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. was the turning point of the
country.
On February 22, 1986, defense sectetary Juan Ponce Enrile and armed
forces vice-chief of staff Fidel V. Ramos resigned from their post and led
the revolution.
On February 23, 1986, Brigadier General Artemio Tadiar led a pack of
tanks and armored vans to Ortigas Avenue.
On February 24, 1986, government troops joined the crowd and their
peaceful protest.
On February 25, 1986, 2 presidential elections took place: (1)Aquino’s at
Club Filipino in Greenhills; and (2)Marcos’ in Malacañang
Marcos flees the country (Philippines)
Millions of Filipinos celebrated his ousting and the watches in admiration
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Yellow ribbons where everywhere
L-shaped hand sign
In 1993, People Power monument was sculpted by Eduardo Castrillo to
commemorate the action-packed events happened in 1986 People Power
Revolution
SUCCESS OF PEOPLE POWER
Cory talked about her miraculous victory through the
people’s struggle and continued talking about her earlier
initiatives as president of restored democracy.
Cory Aquino boasted about having a restored constitutional
government in which it includes the Bill of Rights.
Example of Bill of Rights are; Article 3 Section 1: No person
shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due
process of law, Section 2: The right of people to be secure in
their persons, houses, papers, and effects against
unreasonable searches and seizures, etc.
PHILIPPINE DEBT
September 18, 1986 was the first
visit of Corazon Aquino in the
United States after the dictator,
Ferdinand Marcos was deposed in
February.
She expresses her concerned about
the debt of the country which
amounted $26 billion during the
Marcos regime.
The dictatorship brought calamity
level experiences to the Filipinos,
INSURGENCY
The communist insurgency and
economic deterioration is one of
the challenges she faced as they
tried to rebuild the democracy.
Communist insurgency had grown
throughout the Marcos era to more
than 500-16,000 guerillas.
The aspiration of the people in the
abstraction of democracy.
Cory asked the US congress,
Filipinos want democracy by
themselves and need only to
preserve it.
COMPLIMENTS OF AMERICA
• THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
Home of democracy
Cory ought to continue the revolution led her to the
US congress.
“Democracy must be defended by arms when it is attacked
by arms and by truth when it is attacked by lies” –
Archibald Macleish
Ninoy believed that it is the way of democracy.
CORY HELD OUT FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE
1984 ELECTION
She warned by the lawyers of the opposition.
She fought for people in whose intelligence she had
implicit faith.
• Her way to measure their power (democracy) even
in the terms dictated by the dictatorship.
People vindicated Cory were marked by the government
as fraud.
The opposition won the election.
1986
Dictatorship called for its doom.
The people drafted Cory Aquino to challenge the
dictatorship.
The people stand fast by democracy against threats and
corruption.
• Women poll watchers tied themselves to the box.
• People were prepared to give their live.
At the end of the day, Cory announced peope’s victory.
• People proclaimed Cory as president.
• Military leaders declared themselves against the
dictatorship.
• The co-chairman of the United States observer
team report and described the victory as
“extraordinary manifestation of democfacy on the
part of Filipino People” and the ultimate result
was “the election of Cory C. Aquino as the
President and Salvador Laurel as the Vice-
President.”
• Cory Aquino showed gratification in behalf of
Filipino people for the balancing America’s
strategic interest against human concerns,
THE WORKS OF CORY IN THE
PHILLIPINE GOVERNMENT:
Restoring full constitutional government
• Under a constitution that already gives
full respect to the Bill of Rights.
Independent Constitutional Commission
• There will be congressional elections
LAST PARAGRAPH
Since Americans have spent many lives and much
treasure tombring freedom to many lands that were
reluctant to receive it, noe they have Filipinos who won
it by themselves and only need help to preserve it.
As a leader of proud and free people, Cory addressed a
question to America:
“has there been a greater test of national commitment
to the ideals you hold dear than that my people have gone
through?”
3 YEARS AGO
Cory give thanks to America for the haven from
oppression, and home they gave to Ninoy, herself and
their children that enables them t liv the happiest three
years of their lives.
3 YEARS AFTER
Cory invites America to join the Philippines and
preserve the freedom
• This is to build a new home for democracy, haven to
the oppressed that it may stand as a shining testament
of two nation’s commitment to freedom.
Analysis of Cory Aquino’s speech
Cory Aquino’s speech was an important event in the political and diplomatic history of the
country because it has arguably cemented the legitimacy of the EDSA government in the international arena.
That is speech talks of her background, especially her relationship with her late husband, Ninoy Aquino. It
is well known that it was Ninoy who served as the real leading figure of the opposition at that time. Indeed,
Ninoy’s eloquence and charisma could very well compete with that of Marcos. In her speech, Cory talked at
length about Ninoy’s toll and sufferings. At the hands of the dictatorship that he resisted. Even when she
proceeded talking about her new government, she still went back to Ninoy’s legacies and lessons.
Moreover, her attribution of the revolution to Ninoy’s death demonstrates not only Cory’s personal
perception on the revolution, but since she was the president, it also represents what the dominant discourse
was at that point in our history. The ideology or the principles of the new democratic government can also
be seen in the same speech. Aquino was able to draw the sharp contrast between her government and of her
predecessor by expressing her commitment to a democratic constitution drafted by an independent
commission. She claimed that such constitution upholds and adheres to the rights and liberty of the Filipino
people. Cory also hoisted herself as the reconciliatory agent. More than two decades of a polarizing
authoritarian Politics. For example, Cory saw the blown up insurgency as a product of repressive and
corrupt. Her response to this insurgency rooted from her diametric opposition of the dictator. Cory claimed
That’s her main approach this problem was through peace and not through the sword of war.
Despite Cory’s efforts to hoist herself as the exact opposite of Marcos, her speech still
revealed certain parallelism between her and the Marcos’s government. This is seen in
terms of continuing the alliance between the said Philippines and the United States despite
the known affinity between the said world super power and Marcos. The Aquino regime, as
seen in Cory’s acceptance of the invitation to address the U.S. Congress and to the content
of the speech, decided to build and continue with the alliance between the Philippines and
the United States and effectivity implemented as an essentially similar foreign policy to
that of the dictatorship. For example, Cory recognized that the large sum of foreign debt
incurred by the Marcos regime never benefitted the Filipino people. Nevertheless, Cory
expressed her intention to pay off those debts. Unknown to many Filipinos was the fact
that there was a choice of waiving the said debt because those were the of the dictator and
not of the country. Cory’s decision is an indicator of her governments intention to carry on
a debt driven economy. Reading through Aquino’s speech, we can already take cues, not
just on Cory’s individual ideas and aspirations, but also the guiding principles and
framework of the government that she represented.
THANK YOU!!!
