In modern history, there are only a few women in the political arena, and there are only a few people who can hold important positions, such as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Brazilian President Rousseff, who has been active in recent years, etc., but there was once such a petite and gentle Asian woman, in the turbulent Asia of the 19th century, with her own wisdom and foresight, elected as the 11th president of the Philippines, and the first female president of Asia, she is Mrs. Aquino.
Mrs. Aquino is the most benevolent president in the history of the Philippines, there is no doubt that she is also the most respected and loved president of the people, she maintained the internal stability of the Philippines during her tenure, developed the economy, and established a stable living environment for the Filipino people. After the death of Mrs. Aquino, Philippine President Arroyo announced a 10-day national mourning, so what is the support of a woman to make such an achievement, come with me to understand the ups and downs of this legendary woman's life.
Mrs. Aquino' full name was Corrazon Aquino, and she was born in Manila, Philippines in 1933, when she was a girlhood name, Maria Corazon Cominonco. Corazon's family is well-off, her family has been in business for many years, and she is a well-known local family in the Philippines. Corazon is actually not a complete Filipino, because she has a part of the blood of Chinese flowing on her body, which also starts from his great-grandfather Xu Yuhuan, who was born in the coastal city of Fujian after the First Opium War, when Fujian was in the midst of military chaos, Xu Yuhuan was 20 years old, in order to survive, he followed his elders all the way south to the Philippines. At first, they were not familiar with the land, and could only fish by the sea to make a living, but a few years later, Xu Yuhuan married a local Filipino girl and followed her to join the Catholic Church, and his business path began.
The Philippines has a unique climate advantage, rubber everywhere, the vision of Xu Yuhuan, immediately noticed this business opportunity, he set up a rubber plantation, established his own farm, but also took into account sugar, rice, and even construction and other industries, Xu Yuhuan with his tenacity, talent and years of accumulated experience, in the blink of an eye became a business tycoon, the local famous family, to the generation of Corazon's father and uncle, the family began to gradually shift to the political arena, his father and brother have had work experience in congress. Inherited from his great-grandfather's business acumen and tenacity, coupled with the family's political environment, Corazon's future presidential candidacy will play an important role.
At the age of 13, Corazon embarked on a study trip to the United States, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Vincent Hill College in New York in 1953 and an honorary doctorate from Stonehill College and St. Vincent Hill College in 1984, during which time she returned to China in 1954 and married Benigno Aquino, thus changing her name to Corazon Aquino.
At that time, the 22-year-old Corrazon served as the general secretary and senator of the Philippine Liberal Party, and Benigano was a mayor, they could be described as Chinse and Ming after marriage, with four women and a man, very happy, but with the election of Benigano to the senator, the danger around them gradually appeared from the shadows, the then President Marcos, was a greedy dictatorship leader, he did not care about the people's life and food, only to protect the private pockets, dictatorship, consolidate power. The Filipino people complained that Benigno, who was dedicated to the people, could see that the people were in dire straits, and he immediately gathered democratic volunteers to fight against the Marcos dictatorship.
In 1972, Benigno was arrested and imprisoned, false charges, 7 years of prison life, heart disease torture, did not change Benigno's original intention, after the release of Benigno still tried to overthrow the Marcos regime, after learning of the Marcos assassination operation, can only flee to the United States in 1980 with his family to take refuge. Life in the United States is peaceful and beautiful, husband and wife are harmonious, life is worry-free, but the tens of millions of people in the Philippines still live under the tyranny of Marcos, which makes Benigno unable to put it down anyway, and finally in 1983, Benigno decided to return to the Philippines and jointly plan with the opposition to run for president and let Marcos step down.
Benigno stepped on the plane back home alone, and after this trip, he never returned. How did Corazon feel when she heard that her husband had been shot dead at the airport? A woman, who has lost her husband, is thinking about the people of her home country until the last moment. She may have regretted it, regretted that she did not accompany her husband back, may have resented, resented Marcos's cruelty, but all emotions in the end, turned into a tenacious force, she will replace her husband to complete his mission, to protect the Philippines and the people of the Philippines.
After Benigno's assassination, Mrs. Arnogy officially entered the political arena. The assassination of Benigno caused the anger of the opposition, and for a time the crowd was outraged, and Mrs. Arnoldy became a representative of the opposition to the Marcos regime, and she actively participated in the political movement against the dictatorship and the Marcos regime, during which time she won the support of many people and even received recommendation from the opposition and the Catholic Church.
In 1986, the Filipino people's difficulty with Marcos has reached the fixed point, the presidential election was held ahead of February 7, but to everyone's shock, the election result was Marcos's victory, the whole country was accusing Marcos of fraud, the street demonstrations, which is the so-called "People's Power Revolution", and finally with the help of the Filipino people, the 53-year-old Corrazon defeated Marcos and successfully became the 11th president of the Philippines in 1986, thus starting her presidency.
After Corazon came to power, the domestic situation has been very bad, and the economy, the financial crisis, and the threat of reactionary forces that have been crushed by the previous President Marcos are all huge challenges for a new president. But Corazon had the tenacity of his great-grandfather, and after clearing his mind, he began to try various reforms. She first formulated a new constitution that stipulates that the president cannot be re-elected; carried out political reforms to eliminate corrupt officials; carried out economic reforms, broke the monopoly of export products, and attached importance to the discovery of agriculture, so that the domestic economy has improved well within a few years, from negative growth to positive growth; Corazon attaches importance to the establishment of public utilities, she raises workers' wages, and greatly increases the people's sense of happiness in life.
In politics, Corazon showed the tenacity and courage of women, while also giving the tolerance of a mother. Corazon insisted on not using critical strikes to resolve the internal conflict, and even though the military government opposed it, she resorted to non-violent means to try to reconcile the various forces in the Philippines. Corrazon tried to negotiate peace with the Communist Party of the Philippines New People's Army, but the Communist Party put forward two conditions, the first demanding the cessation of cooperation with the United States and the severance of U.S. military and economic assistance, and the second putting forward the idea of land reform, which clashed greatly with Corazon's economic policies at that time, and at the same time, the Philippine National Army part also changed, and the rebel army launched a coup in 1987.
Nearly a thousand people were killed or wounded, and even Corazon's son Aquino II was shot, fortunately not life-threatening, and the rebel coup, although unsuccessful, also led to the collapse of peace talks with the Communists. Similar coups are not uncommon during president Corazon's tenure, serving for 6 years, encountering 7 coups, only from 1986 to 1987, he encountered 6 coups, in a high position, life will never be smooth, But Corazon can bravely and calmly face, even for the rebel army, it is still a tolerant attitude, never heavy punishment, it is precisely because of this kind of mind, he will win the love of the Filipino people.
In 1991, the United States removed military bases in the Philippines, and the two military bases of the United States in the Philippines were an important base point of the Cold War policy at that time, as long as the bases were still in the communist forces of ASEAN countries, they could not move freely, and the US-Philippine military bases were of great importance to the US government, and the US government paid the Philippines up to 900 million US dollars in 5 years. The existence of the base has brought a lot of economic resources and job opportunities to the Philippines, but the military base has also caused dissatisfaction among liberals and communists in the country, and there are constant conflicts of nationalism.
For the sake of stability in the Philippines, Corazon decided to terminate the contract with the United States and change the base into a free special economic zone. This move plays a crucial role in the reconciliation of various forces in the country.
Corazon never shy away from the fact that he is of Chinese descent, and has repeatedly publicly expressed the hope that China and the Philippines will help each other, and the relationship can get better and better, and even in 1988, with her daughter back to her hometown in China, she wanted to personally go to Hongwei Village in Fujian Province to feel the breath of her homeland, Corazon, accompanied by the members of the village branch, worshiped the Xu Family Ancestral Hall, and after the ancestral hall, she loaded the Araucaria tree symbolizing the Philippines, standing on the land of her hometown, Corazon excitedly said that she was the daughter of this village, and her "roots" were in China, and she would never forget , he is a descendant of Chinese. As Mrs. Aquino and as president of the Philippines, Corazon has never forgotten his roots, nor has he ever forgotten his husband's pursuit and his mission.
Corrazon retired in 1992 and died of illness in 2009. Mrs. Aquino's life also ended here, the first half of her life was flat and the second half of her life came and went, the female president showed tenacity and generosity, wisdom and persistence, I believe that everyone who sees it will also have heartfelt respect.