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Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, who became President of the Philippines after the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship, died at 3:18 am today (Aug. 1) at a Makati City hospital. She was 76.

Her son, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, announced that the former president died due to cardiorespiratory arrest. He added that the Aquino family would bare details of the wake at a press conference later today. She had been diagnosed with colon cancer and had been hospitalized at the Makati Medical Center for a month.

Aquino was married to prominent anti-Marcos leader former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

Filipinos immediately expressed grief over the news, with thousands extending condolences to the Aquino family on Facebook, Twitter and Plurk.

“Corazon Aquino” rose as a trending topic on Twitter in less than two hours since her death. The CNet blog Babelmachine also reports on the use of yellow ribbons in Twitter avatars as a sign of honor and respect for Aquino and the live streaming by GMANews.tv website of old Aquino videos.

Major Philippine news networks beamed the younger Aquino’s announcement live and online news sites quickly reported it:

• Inquirer.net: Cory Aquino dies
• GMANews.tv: Former President Corazon Aquino, people power icon, passes away
• ABS-CBNNews.com: Pinoys lose their democracy icon

World media reportage and reactions were swift:

• Time: People Power’s Philippine Saint: Corazon Aquino, 1933-2009
• LA Times: Corazon Aquino, restored democracy to Philippines
• Bloomberg: Corazon Aquino, Philippine Leader Who Ousted Marcos, Dies at 76
• Reuters: Revered ex-Philippines president Cory Aquino dies
• San Francisco Chronicle: From housewife to People Power, Aquino kept the faith
• BBC: Philippines ex-leader Aquino dies
• Financial Times: Corazon Aquino, former president of the Philippines, dies aged 76
• Associated Press: Corazon Aquino, Philippines president, dead at 76
• NPR: Corazon Aquino, Former Philippines President, Dead At 76
• New York Times: Corazon Aquino, Ex-Leader of Philippines, Is Dead

A photo of Aquino, clad in her signature yellow, went up on the frontpages of the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune websites.

Aquino was named Woman of the Year by Time magazine in 1986, the same year a popular uprising overthrew the dictator Ferdinand Marcos which signaled her rise to the presidency.

Critics however assailed Aquino, who belonged to a family of landlords over the infamous Mendiola Massacre, which saw several peasants marching for land reform killed by state security forces. The incident led to the collapse of peace negotiations between Manila and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The Cojuangco family’s Hacienda Luisita was exempted from coverage by Aquino’s own land reform program.

Aquino later figured prominently in the movement to oust President Joseph Estrada, and in the protests that followed the revelation of the Hello Garci audio recordings.

Aquino had repeatedly called on Arroyo to resign from office.

More information on the former Philippine leader:

• Corazon Aquino (Wikipedia)
• Corazon Aquino (Wikipedia Tagalog)
• Essential Cory Aquino (CoryAquino.ph)

Photo courtesy of JPG Magazine.

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