Cory Aquino - The Honors She Gave to the Philippines

Every elected or appointed president of every country faces the challenges a nation offers. It was not expected that all will be well for Cory Aquino but it was not also expected that it will also be a tumultuous administration defined by six failed military coups, insurgency, political controversies and failures to change the elite political system in the country, which some are beyond her control.

But this hub is not about the invalidating facets of her administration but about the honors she gave to our country – the Philippines:

The People Power Revolution or EDSA Revolution is a succession of mass street demonstrations which were nonviolent and prayerful. During the growing mass support, Corazon Aquino was inaugurated as President of the Philippines on February 25, 1986, which was almost concurrent with Ferdinand Marcos' inauguration as president, too, an hour later. Marcos and his family rushed to leave Malacanang hours later.

Though reluctant, Cory Aquino was resolute to serve the Filipino people with courage she had for the killing of her husband Benigno Aquino. That began the indepence of the Filipino people from the dictatorship of Marcos and his 20-year marred administration.

Though she did not get the prize, it is such an honor that she was nominated.

The Alfred Nobel prize is awarded to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.*

*Nobel Peace Prize. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize.

In 1987, Time Magazine recognized Corazon Aquino as Woman of the Year. The article wrote about how her presidency began. It also talked about the ordeals she faced being a president and at the same time a human being. It also reflected the meekness and the courage of a woman amidst divisions in her government.

In 1992, when her term ended, President Corazon Aquino stepped down from office and left the presidency willingly. Not really hungry for power, she selflessly relinquished the presidency without second thoughts.

In 2005, Corazon Aquino courageously called for the resignation of President Gloria Arroyo amidst news of corruption.

Also, it is during this year took up the cudgels for whistle-blower Jun Lozada and the story he had to tell about the corruption on the NBN-ZTE deal

Here are the full voting results from Time Magazine:

• Aung San Suu Kyi 40.4% | 37,617 votes
  
• Anwar Ibrahim 35.9% | 33,379 votes
  
• Dalai Lama 20.3% | 18,879 votes
  
• Anuradha Koirala 0.5% | 482 votes
  
• Yang Liwei 0.5% | 482 votes
  
• Narayana Murthy 0.4% | 373 votes
  
• Corazon Aquino 0.3% | 266 votes
  
• Liu Xiang 0.3% | 264 votes
  
• Manmohan Singh 0.2% | 227 votes
  
• Sakie Yokota 0.2% | 173 votes
  
• Kim Dae Jung 0.1% | 124 votes
• Shaukat Aziz 0.1% | 116 votes
  
• Martin Lee 0.1% | 98 votes
  
• Chen Chih Hsin & Chu Mu Yen 0.1% | 97 votes
  
• Lee Hsien Loong 0.1% | 86 votes
  
• Dat Nguyen 0.1% | 84 votes
  
• Liang Congjie 0.1% | 83 votes
  
• Medha Patkar 0.1% | 74 votes
  
• Tarun Tejpal 0.1% | 67 votes
  
• Wang Shuo 0.1% | 49 votes

Total Votes Cast: 93,022

Or Filipino Micro-Enterprise which Corazon Aquino launched on February 26, 2008.  PinoyME is a private sector, multi-stakeholder, social consortium that aims to contribute to reducing poverty in the country by providing 5 million poor people with financial and non-financial services and mobilizing P5 billion in new capital for microfinance in 5 years.

Here is a list of Corazon Aquino's notable accomplishments:

1986 - Time Magazine Woman of the Year
1986 - Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award
1986 - United Nations Silver Medal
1986 - Canadian International Prize for Freedom
1986 - Nobel Peace Prize nominee
1986 - International Democracy Award from the International Association of Political Consultants
1987 - Prize For Freedom Award from Liberal International
1993 - Special Peace Award from the Aurora Aragon Quezon Peace Awards Foundation and Concerned Women of the Philippines
1994 - One of 100 Women Who Shaped World History (by G.M. Rolka, Bluewood Books, San Francisco, CA)
1995 - Path to Peace Award
1996 - J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding from the U.S. Department of State
1998 - Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding
1998 - Pearl S. Buck Award
1999 - One of Time Magazine's 20 Most Influential Asians of the 20th Century
2001 - World Citizenship Award
2005 - David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Awards
2005 - One of the World's Elite Women Who Make a Difference by the International Women's Forum Hall of Fame
2006 - One of Time Magazine's 65 Asian Heroes
2008 - One of A Different View's 15 Champions of World Democracy

Source:Wikipedia