MANILA — The death of former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino — "Tita Cory" to most of the 92 million people of the Philippines — left behind a precious inheritance: a legacy of freedom that the Philippines came to share with oppressed peoples around the world.
Her revolution was the first of the wave of "velvet revolutions" that liberated countless millions from Manila to Seoul to Johannesburg to Prague, Warsaw and Moscow. President Aquino's "People Power" revolution, indeed, is among the proudest moments in my country's history, and the distinctive contribution of our people to the saga of mankind's long struggle for freedom and dignity.
Aquino motivated ordinary Filipinos to peaks of daring and selflessness at a time when their spirit had almost been broken by a 14-year dictatorship. While her husband Sen. Ninoy Aquino lived, she — as the unassuming but caring housewife — was the stabilizing influence that tempered his personality. After his assassination in August 1983, she stepped resolutely into his role as political leader of my country's democratic opposition to an entrenched despotic regime.