The New York Philippine Consulate Opens a Public Book of Condolence for former President CORY AQUINO

Mourning the passing of the Philippine icon of democracy

Manhattan resident Vivian Talambiras Cruz signs the pubic book of condolence as Amelia Barretto and a Philippine consulate employee look on.

New Yorkers have the chance to pay their respects to the Philippine icon of democracy and former Philippine President CORAZON (CORY) AQUINO. The New York Philippine Consulate invites the Filipino community and foreign friends to sign the book of condolence at the Philippine Center. The signing takes place at the Kalayaan Hall (second floor) of the Philippine Center which is located at 556 Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The signing of the book of condolence is open to the public, Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. President Aquino died on August 1 in Manila after a long battle with colon cancer, and will be buried on August 5. Kalayaan Hall was named after the 1986 people power revolution led by Cory Aquino.

Mrs. Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines, serving from 1986 to 1992, and also the first female president of that country. She attended the Notre Dame Convent School, as well as the College of Mount Saint Vincent, both in New York.

There will also be a memorial mass on Wednesday, August 5 at 6:30 PM at the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz which is located at 378 Broome Street.

Corazon C. Aquino

January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009

11th President of the Republic of the Philippines

February 25, 1986 – June 30, 1992

Maria Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco Aquino became the 11th President of the Republic of the

Philippines, following the peaceful 1986 People Power Revolution that astonished the world.

Aquino was married to Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., a leading figure in the political

opposition against the autocratic rule of President Ferdinand Marcos, who was assassinated upon

his return from exile on 21 August 1983. Having had no prior political experience, Mrs. Aquino

nevertheless became the focal point around which the fractured political opposition finally unified.

She was the lone candidate against Marcos during the 1986 snap presidential elections.

Soon after Marcos’ proclamation as victor, despite widespread reports of electoral fraud,

then Minister of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces of the Philippines Vice

Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos, set in motion a long-planned coup against Marcos. The

charismatic Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin exhorted the predominantly Catholic

populace to mass along EDSA (the main thoroughfare between Camps Aguinaldo and Crame) to

support the rebel soldiers. Over the next four days almost 2 million unarmed civilians poured into

the streets, heeding the call of Cardinal Sin. People the world over were amazed to see unarmed

priests, nuns and ordinary men, women and children forming human chains, blockading loyalist

military squadrons, preventing them from reaching the rebel soldiers at the Camps. They answered

guns and tanks with prayers and flowers... succeeding in what became known as the 1986 EDSA

People Power Revolution.

Corazon Aquino was proclaimed the 11th President of the Philippines on the 25th of

February 1986, Asia’s first female head of state. After completing her term in 1992, she continued

to be an advocate of democracy, peace, women's empowerment, and religious piety.

Aquino died of cardiopulmonary arrest after complications of colon cancer at the age of 76

on August 1, 2009.