Former Philippine President Cory Aquino Passes Away
MANILA, Aug. 1 -- Former Philippine president Corazon Aquino died early Saturday morning at age 76 after battling colon cancer for over a year, her family said.
Corazon Aquino's son, Senator Benigno Aquino III, confirmed that the former Philippine leader died of cardio respiratory arrest at 3:18 a.m. local time Saturday (1918 GMT Friday) at the Makati Medical Center in the country's capital Manila.
Aquino was diagnosed with the disease in March 2008 and has been confined at the hospital for more than a month.
Previously a housewife, Aquino was pushed into politics after the assassination of her late husband, opposition Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, upon his return from exile at the Manila International Airport in 1983.
She led the military-backed mass revolt in 1986 to unseat the then president Ferdinand Marcos, putting an end to his 26-year iron-fist rule. And she became the country's first female president in 1987. (PNA/Xinhua)
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