WHO IS MARIA CORAZON COJUANGCO- AQUINO ?

•the 11thpresident (and

first female president) of the Philippines•born January 25,1933, in Tarlac,
Philippines•graduated from the College of Mount St. Vincent in New York in
1953,with a bachelor's degree in both French and mathematics•widow of Senator
Benigno Aquino. •was widely accredited as the “Mother of Asian
Democracy”•presidential term: February 25, 1986-June 30, 1992.

Speech of President Corazon Aquino during the Joint Session of the U.S.
Congress, September 18,1986Time written:Assumed between April – September
Time delivered: September 18, 19867 months after the EDSA revolution (Feb
25,1986)3 years after the assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino (1983)Place
Written: Philippines Place Delivered:Washington DC, U.S. Congress
Speech of President Corazon Aquino during the Joint Session of the U.S. Congress,
September 18,1986SITUATION OF THAT TIME:The Philippines is 7 months free
from the martial law era that lasted for 14 years.Democratic governmentEconomic
State of the Philippines (GDP)
Speech of President Corazon Aquino during the Joint Session of the U.S. Congress,
September 18,1986INTENT OF THE SPEECH•To declare the freedom of the
Filipinos from the Marcos regime•To mark a new beginning for the Filipinos and to its
government•To appeal for financial assistance by informing the Americans about the
Philippines’ state

Speech of President Corazon Aquino during the Joint Session of the U.S. Congress,
September 18,1986PERSPECTIVE: •As a victim of Marcos’ cruel regime•As the
faithful wife of Senator Benigno Aquino•As the People’s Champion•As the
Mother of Asian Democracy
Corazon Aquino's speech
1. 1. President Corazon Aquino Speech to a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress delivered 18
September 1986, Washington, D.C. Speech
2. 2. CONTENTANDCONTEXT Who is the author of the primary source? What do you know
about the author that may shape his/her perspective? Corazon Aquino was the author of the
primary source. She is known as the wife of the oppositionist of Ferdinand Marcos. She
showed her mutiny and sadness through addressing the speech when she finally got the
chance in the US Congress. Who is the intended audience of the primary source? The
intended audience of the primary source is the Filipino people, as well as the whole world
who witnessed the impoverishment of the Marcos’ administration; students, researchers,
political analysts
3. 3. CONTENTANDCONTEXT Where and when was the primary source published or
created? She delivered her speech before the Joint session of the United States Congress
with U.S lawmaker in September 18, 1986. Describe the historical context. What was
happening during this event of time period? It has been known by everyone that the Marcos-
Aquino families greatly hates each other. Ninoy Aquino, the husband of Cory and the number
one oppositionist of Ferdinand Marcos was detained in the North. Ninoy’s captivation and
assassination on the latter part much fuelled Cory’s determination to fight against the
government and seek refuge from the Americans.
4. 4. OBSERVE “Still, we fought for honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay.” EXPLAIN She
emphasized that the fight that they started was not wasted and it was not a nonsense one.
That they, the Filipinos put up a good fight against the administration.
5. 5. OBSERVE “The task had fallen on my shoulders to continue offering the democratic
alternative to our people.” EXPLAIN She took the responsibilities in taking care and fighting
for the sake of freedom of the whole country.
6. 6. INFER Cory Aquino was devastated and sad about the situation of the country; about the
two decades of social and political oppression.
 7. 7. WONDER What would happen to the Philippines if Cory Aquino did not step up and fight
against the Marcos Administration?

Speech of Her Excellency Corazon C. Aquino President of the Philippines During the Joint Session
of the United States Congress [Delivered at Washington, D.C., on September 18, 1986] Three years
ago, I left America in grief to bury my husband, Ninoy Aquino. I thought I had left it also to lay to
rest his restless dream of Philippine freedom. Today, I have returned as the president of a free people.
In burying Ninoy, a whole nation honored him. By that brave and selfless act of giving honor, a
nation in shame recovered its own. A country that had lost faith in its future found it in a faithless and
brazen act of murder. So in giving, we receive, in losing we find, and out of defeat, we snatched our
victory. For the nation, Ninoy became the pleasing sacrifice that answered their prayers for freedom.
For myself and our children, Ninoy was a loving husband and father. His loss, three times in our
lives, was always a deep and painful one. Fourteen years ago this month was the first time we lost
him. A president-turned-dictator, and traitor to his oath, suspended the Constitution and shut down
the Congress that was much like this one before which I am honored to speak. He detained my
husband along with thousands of others – senators, publishers and anyone who had spoken up for the
democracy as its end drew near. But for Ninoy, a long and cruel ordeal was reserved. The dictator
already knew that Ninoy was not a body merely to be imprisoned but a spirit he must break. For even
as the dictatorship demolished one by one the institutions of democracy – the press, the Congress, the
independence of the judiciary, the protection of the Bill of Rights – Ninoy kept their spirit alive in
himself. The government sought to break him by indignities and terror. They locked him up in a tiny,
nearly airless cell in a military camp in the north. They stripped him naked and held the threat of
sudden midnight execution over his head. Ninoy held up manfully–all of it. I barely did as well. For
43 days, the authorities would not tell me what had happened to him. This was the first time my
children and I felt we had lost him. When that didn’t work, they put him on trial for subversion,
murder and a host of other crimes before a military commission. Ninoy challenged its authority and
went on a fast. If he survived it, then, he felt, God intended him for another fate. We had lost him
again. For nothing would hold him back from his determination to see his fast through to the end. He
stopped only when it dawned on him that the government would keep his body alive after the fast
had destroyed his brain. And so, with barely any life in his body, he called off the fast on the fortieth
day. God meant him for other things, he felt. He did not know that an early death would still be his
fate, that only the timing was wrong. At any time during his long ordeal, Ninoy could have made a
separate peace with the dictatorship, as so many of his countrymen had done. But the spirit of
democracy that inheres in our race and animates this chamber could not be allowed to die. He held
out, in the loneliness of his cell and the frustration of exile, the democratic alternative to the
insatiable greed and mindless cruelty of the right and the purging holocaust of the left. And then, we
lost him, irrevocably and more painfully than in the past. The news came to us in Boston. It had to be
after the three happiest years of our lives together. But his death was my country’s resurrection in the
courage and faith by which alone they could be free again. The dictator had called him a nobody.
Two million people threw aside their passivity and escorted him to his grave. And so began the
revolution that has brought me to democracy’s most famous home, the Congress of the United States.
The task had fallen on my shoulders to continue offering the democratic alternative to our people.
Archibald Macleish had said that democracy must be defended by arms when it is attacked by arms
and by truth when it is attacked by lies. He failed to say how it shall be won. I held fast to Ninoy’s
conviction that it must be by the ways of democracy. I held out for participation in the 1984 election
the dictatorship called, even if I knew it would be rigged. I was warned by the lawyers of the
opposition that I ran the grave risk of legitimizing the foregone results of elections that were clearly
going to be fraudulent. But I was not fighting for lawyers but for the people in whose intelligence I
had implicit faith. By the exercise of democracy, even in a dictatorship, they would be prepared for
democracy when it came. And then, also, it was the only way I knew by which we could measure our
power even in the terms dictated by the dictatorship. The people vindicated me in an election
shamefully marked by government thuggery and fraud. The opposition swept the elections, garnering
a clear majority of the votes, even if they ended up, thanks to a corrupt Commission on Elections,
with barely a third of the seats in parliament. Now, I knew our power. Last year, in an excess of
arrogance, the dictatorship called for its doom in a snap election. The people obliged. With over a
million signatures, they drafted me to challenge the dictatorship. And I obliged them. The rest is the
history that dramatically unfolded on your television screen and across the front pages of your
newspapers. You saw a nation, armed with courage and integrity, stand fast by democracy against
threats and corruption. You saw women poll watchers break out in tears as armed goons crashed the
polling places to steal the ballots but, just the same, they tied themselves to the ballot boxes. You saw
a people so committed to the ways of democracy that they were prepared to give their lives for its
pale imitation. At the end of the day, before another wave of fraud could distort the results, I
announced the people’s victory. The distinguished co-chairman of the United States observer team in
his report to your President described that victory: “I was witness to an extraordinary manifestation
of democracy on the part of the Filipino people. The ultimate result was the election of Mrs. Corazon
C. Aquino as President and Mr. Salvador Laurel as Vice-President of the Philippines.” Many of you
here today played a part in changing the policy of your country towards us. We, Filipinos, thank each
of you for what you did: for, balancing America’s strategic interest against human concerns,
illuminates the American vision of the world. When a subservient parliament announced my
opponent’s victory, the people turned out in the streets and proclaimed me President. And true to
their word, when a handful of military leaders declared themselves against the dictatorship, the
people rallied to their protection. Surely, the people take care of their own. It is on that faith and the
obligation it entails, that I assumed the presidency. As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it.
That is my contract with my people and my commitment to God. He had willed that the blood drawn
with the lash shall not, in my country, be paid by blood drawn by the sword but by the tearful joy of
reconciliation. We have swept away absolute power by a limited revolution that respected the life
and freedom of every Filipino. Now, we are restoring full constitutional government. Again, as we
restored democracy by the ways of democracy, so are we completing the constitutional structures of
our new democracy under a constitution that already gives full respect to the Bill of Rights. A
jealously independent Constitutional Commission is completing its draft which will be submitted
later this year to a popular referendum. When it is approved, there will be congressional elections. So
within about a year from a peaceful but national upheaval that overturned a dictatorship, we shall
have returned to full constitutional government. Given the polarization and breakdown we inherited,
this is no small achievement. My predecessor set aside democracy to save it from a communist
insurgency that numbered less than 500. Unhampered by respect for human rights, he went at it
hammer and tongs. By the time he fled, that insurgency had grown to more than 16,000. I think there
is a lesson here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with the means by which it grows. I don’t
think anybody, in or outside our country, concerned for a democratic and open Philippines, doubts
what must be done. Through political initiatives and local reintegration programs, we must seek to
bring the insurgents down from the hills and, by economic progress and justice, show them that for
which the best intentioned among them fight. As President, I will not betray the cause of peace by
which I came to power. Yet equally, and again no friend of Filipino democracy will challenge this, I
will not stand by and allow an insurgent leadership to spurn our offer of peace and kill our young
soldiers, and threaten our new freedom. Yet, I must explore the path of peace to the utmost for at its
end, whatever disappointment I meet there, is the moral basis for laying down the olive branch of
peace and taking up the sword of war. Still, should it come to that, I will not waver from the course
laid down by your great liberator: “With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in
the rights as God gives us to see the rights, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s
wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphans, to do
all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Like Lincoln, I understand that force may be necessary before mercy. Like Lincoln, I don’t relish it.
Yet, I will do whatever it takes to defend the integrity and freedom of my country. Finally, may I turn
to that other slavery: our $26 billion foreign debt. I have said that we shall honor it. Yet must the
means by which we shall be able to do so be kept from us? Many conditions imposed on the previous
government that stole this debt continue to be imposed on us who never benefited from it. And no
assistance or liberality commensurate with the calamity that was visited on us has been extended. Yet
ours must have been the cheapest revolution ever. With little help from others, we Filipinos fulfilled
the first and most difficult conditions of the debt negotiation the full restoration of democracy and
responsible government. Elsewhere, and in other times of more stringent world economic conditions,
Marshall plans and their like were felt to be necessary companions of returning democracy. When I
met with President Reagan yesterday, we began an important dialogue about cooperation and the
strengthening of the friendship between our two countries. That meeting was both a confirmation and
a new beginning and should lead to positive results in all areas of common concern. Today, we face
the aspirations of a people who had known so much poverty and massive unemployment for the past
14 years and yet offered their lives for the abstraction of democracy. Wherever I went in the
campaign, slum area or impoverished village, they came to me with one cry: democracy! Not food,
although they clearly needed it, but democracy. Not work, although they surely wanted it, but
democracy. Not money, for they gave what little they had to my campaign. They didn’t expect me to
work a miracle that would instantly put food into their mouths, clothes on their back, education in
their children, and work that will put dignity in their lives. But I feel the pressing obligation to
respond quickly as the leader of a people so deserving of all these things. We face a communist
insurgency that feeds on economic deterioration, even as we carry a great share of the free world
defenses in the Pacific. These are only two of the many burdens my people carry even as they try to
build a worthy and enduring house for their new democracy, that may serve as well as a redoubt for
freedom in Asia. Yet, no sooner is one stone laid than two are taken away. Half our export earnings,
$2 billion out of $4 billion, which was all we could earn in the restrictive markets of the world, went
to pay just the interest on a debt whose benefit the Filipino people never received. Still, we fought for
honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay. And yet, should we have to wring the payments from the
sweat of our men’s faces and sink all the wealth piled up by the bondsman’s two hundred fifty years
of unrequited toil? Yet to all Americans, as the leader of a proud and free people, I address this
question: has there been a greater test of national commitment to the ideals you hold dear than that
my people have gone through? You have spent many lives and much treasure to bring freedom to
many lands that were reluctant to receive it. And here you have a people who won it by themselves
and need only the help to preserve it. Three years ago, I said thank you, America, for the haven from
oppression, and the home you gave Ninoy, myself and our children, and for the three happiest years
of our lives together. Today, I say, join us, America, as we build a new home for democracy, another
haven for the oppressed, so it may stand as a shining testament of our two nation’s commitment to
freedom.

Talumpati ng Kagalang-galang Corazon C. Aquino Pangulo ng Pilipinas Sa Pinagsanib na Sesyon ng

Kapulungan ng Estados Unidos [Inihayag sa Washington, D.C., noong ika-18 ng Setyembre 1986]
Tatlong taon na ang nakararaan, nagdadalamhati akong lumisan sa Amerika upang ilibing ang aking
kabiyak, si Ninoy Aquino. Akala ko’y umalis ako doon upang ilibing din nang ganap ang kaniyang
di-makaling pangarap na kalayaan ng Pilipinas. Ngayon, nagbabalik ako bilang pangulo ng malayang
sambayanan. Sa paglilibing kay Ninoy, dinarakila siya ng buong bansa. Sa magiting at
mapagpaubayang pakikibakang magbigay ng karangalan, ang buong bansa ay nakabangon nang
mag-isa. Ang bansang nawalan ng pananalig sa kinabukasan ay natagpuan yaon sa marahas at
lantarang pagpaslang. Kaya sa pagbibigay ay nakatatanggap tayo; sa pagkawala ay nakatatagpo tayo;
at mula sa pagkabigo ay nahablot natin ang tagumpay. Para sa bansa, si Ninoy ang kaaya-ayang
sakripisyo na tumugon sa mga panalangin nito hinggil sa kalayaan. Para sa akin at sa aking mga
anak, si Ninoy ang mapagmahal na esposo at ama. Ang kaniyang pagkawala, nang tatlong ulit sa
aming buhay, ay palaging malalim at makirot. Ikalabing-apat na apat na taon ngayong buwan ang
unang pagkakataon na nawala siya sa amin. Ang pangulong naghunos diktador, at nagtaksil sa
kaniyang sinumpaang tungkulin, ay sinuspinde ang Saligang Batas at isinara ang Konggreso na
parang gaya nito na isang karangalan ang magsalita. Ibinilanggo niya ang aking asawa kapiling ang
ilang libo pang tao—mga senador, pabliser, at sinumang nagsalita para sa demokrasya—habang
papalapit na ang wakas ng kaniyang pamamahala. Ngunit nakalaan para kay Ninoy ang mahaba at
malupit na pagsubok. Batid ng diktador na si Ninoy ay hindi lamang katawan na makukulong bagkus
diwaing dapat wasakin. Dahil kahit gibain nang isa-isa ng diktadura ang mga institusyon ng
demokrasya—gaya ng press, Konggreso, independensiya ng hukuman, ang proteksiyon ng Talaan ng
Karapatan— pinanatiling buhay ni Ninoy ang alab ng diwain nito. Sinikap ng gobyerno na durugin si
Ninoy sa pamamagitan ng panghihiya at paninindak. Ibinilibid siya sa maliit, halos walang hanging
selda sa kampo militar sa hilaga. Hinubdan siya at binantaang ipabibitay pagsapit ng kalagitnaan ng
gabi. Pinanindigan lahat iyon ni Ninoy. At gayon din halos ang ginawa ko. Inilihim sa akin ng mga
awtoridad kung ano ang nangyari sa kaniya sa loob ng apatnapu’t tatlong araw. Ito ang unang
pagkakataon na nadama ko at ng aking mga anak na naglaho na siya. Nang hindi nagtagumpay ang
gayong paraan, nilitis siya sa salang subersiyon, pagpatay, at iba pang krimen sa harap ng komisyong
militar. Hinamon ni Ninoy ang awtoridad nito at siya’y nag-ayuno. Kung makaliligtas siya doon,
pakiwari niya, ang Diyos ay may nakalaang ibang tadhana sa kaniya. Muling nawala si Ninoy sa
amin. Dahil walang makapipigjil sa kaniyang sigasig na mag-ayuno hanggang wakas, huminto
lamang siya nang mabatid na pananatilihin ng gobyerno ang kaniyang katawan makalipas na sirain
ng pag-aayuno ang utak. Lupaypay ang katawan na halos walang buhay, winakasan ni Ninoy ang
kaniyang pag-aayuno sa ikaapatnapung araw. May inilaan ang Diyos sa kaniya na ibang bagay,
ramdam ni Ninoy. Hindi niya alam na ang maagang kamatayan ay siya ring magiging tadhana niya,
dangan lamang at hindi pa panahon. Sa alinmang sandali ng kaniyang mahabang pagsubok, maaari
na sanang makipagkasundo si Ninoy sa diktadura, gaya ng ginawa ng marami niyang kababayan.
Ngunit ang diwa ng demokrasya na nananalaytay sa aming lahi at nagpapasigla ng kamarang ito ay
hindi mahahayaang maupos. Pinanindigan niya, sa kabila ng galimgim ng kaniyang selda at kabiguan
ng destiyero, ang demokratikong alternatibo sa hindi mapigil na kasakiman at salat-sa-katwirang
kalupitan ng kanan at sa mala-holokawstong pagpupurga ng kaliwa. Pagkaraan, naglaho siya sa amin
nang ganap at higit na masakit kaysa noon. Sumapit sa amin sa Boston ang balita. Iyon ay pagkaraan
ng tatlong masasayang taon ng aming pagsasama. Ngunit ang kaniyang kamatayan ay resureksiyon
ng tapang at pananampalatayang magpapalaya sa aming bayan. itinuring na walang kuwenta ng
diktador si Ninoy. Dalawang milyong tao ang bumasag ng kanilang pananahimik at nagmartsa tungo
sa libingan niya. At doon nagsimula ang rebolusyon na naghatid sa akin sa pinakatanyag na tahanan
ng demokrasya, ang Konggreso ng Estados Unidos. Nakasalalay sa aking mga balikat ngayon ang
tungkuling ipagpatuloy ang paghahain ng demokratikong alternatibo sa aming sambayanan. Winika
ni Archibald Macleish na dapat ipagtanggol ang demokrasya sa pamamagitan ng sandata kapag
tinapatan ng sandata, at sa pamamagitan ng katotohanan kapag tinapatan ng kasinungalingan. Nabigo
niyang banggitin kung paano iyon ipapanalo. Naniniwala ako sa ipinaglalaban ni Ninoy na dapat
ipanalo iyon sa mga pamamaraan ng demokrasya. Naghintay akong makalahok noong halalan 1984
na inihayag ng diktadura, kahit alam kong dadayain iyon. Nagbabala sa akin ang mga abogado ng
oposisyon sa panganib na maging lehitimo ang resulta ng halalang malinaw na dadayain. Ngunit
hindi ako nakikipaglaban para sa mga abogado bagkus para sa mga mamamayang ang talino’y
pinanaligan ko. Sa pagsasagawa ng demokrasya kahit nasa ilalim ng diktadura’y maihahanda sila sa
demokrasya kapag sumapit ito. Ito rin ang tanging paraan na alam kong masusukat narnin ang
kapangyarihan ikahit sa mga bagay na idinidikta ng diktadura. Itinaguyod ako ng mga tao sa halalang
hitik sa karahasan at pandaraya ng gobyerno. Nagwagi ang oposisyon sa mga halalan, lumikom ng
malinaw na mayorya ng mga boto, bagaman ang natamo nila—salamat na lamang sa tiwaling
Komisyon sa Halalan—ay halos sangkatlo lamang ng mga puwesto sa batasan. Ngayon, alam ko na
ang aming kapangyarihan. Noong nakaraang taon, nanawagan ng biglaang halalan ang diktadura
bilang pagpapamalas ng labis na kapaluan. Tumango ang bayan. Sa bisa ng mahigit isang milyong
lagda, iniluklok nila ako na hamumin ang diktadura. At sinunod ko ang mithi nila. Ang sumunod ay
kasaysayang nabuksan nang dramatiko sa inyong telebisyon at sa mga pambungad na pahina ng
inyong mga pahayagan. Nakita ninyo ang bansa, na armado ng giting at integridad, na mariing
nanindigan sa demokrasya laban sa mga banta at korupsiyon. Nasaksihan ninyo ang mga babaeng
tagapagbantay ng halalan na nagsitangis nang manloob ang mga armadong maton upang hablutin ang
mga balota, ngunit itinali ng mga babae ang kanilang mga kamay sa mga kahon ng balota. Namalas
ninyo ang mga tao na nagtaya sa mga pamamaraan ng demokrasya at handa nilang ihandog ang
buhay para sa mababa nitong katumbas. Sa pagwawakas ng araw, bago pa sumapit ang bagong agos
ng pandaraya na makapagpapabaligtad ng mga resulta, inihayag ko ang tagumpay ng bayan.
Inilarawan ng iginagalang na kawaksing pinuno ng pangkat tagapagsubaybay ng Estados Unidos sa
kaniyang ulat sa inyong Pangulo ang nasabing tagumpay: “Saksi ako sa pambihirang pagpapamalas
ng demokrasya sa panig ng sambayanang Pilipino. Ang ultimong resulta ay ang pagkakahalal kay
Gng. Corazon C. Aquino bilang Pangulo at kay G. Salvador Laurel bilang Ikalawang Pangulo ng
Republika ng Pilipinas.” Marami sa inyo na narito ngayon ang gumanap ng papel sa pagpapanibago
ng patakaran ng inyong bansa hinggil sa aming bansa. Kami, ang mga Pilipino, ay nagpapasalamat sa
inyo sa ginawa ninyo: na sa pagtitimbang ng estratehikong interes ng Amerika laban sa mga usaping
pantao ay maliliwanagan ang Amerikanong bisyon sa daigdig. Nang ihayag ng sunod-sunurang
batasan ang tagumpay ng aking kalaban, nagsilabasan sa mga kalye ang mga tao at inihayag na ako
ang Pangulo nila. At tapat sa kanilang winika, nang ang iilang pinuno ng militar ay naghayag ng
pagsalungat sa diktadura, ang mga tao’y nagbayanihan upang pangalagaan sila. Totoong kinakalinga
ng mga tao ang kaisa nila. Sa gayong pananalig at pananagutang taglay nito nanungkulan ako bilang
pangulo. Isinantabi ng nauna sa akin ang demokrasya upang iligtas umano ito sa komunistang pag-
aaklas na hindi lalabis sa 500 tao. Masigasig niyang nilabag ang mga karapatang pantao at ni hindi
inalintana ang paggalang dito. Nang tumakas ang diktador palayo, ang armadong pakikibaka ay
lumago sa 16,000. Wari ko’y may leksiyon dito na dapat matutuhan hinggil sa pagsisikap na supilin
ang isang bagay sa pamamagitan ng mga pamamaraang magpapalago rito. Walang tao sa aking
palagay, sa loob man o labas ng bansa, na may malasakit sa demokratiko at bukas na Pitipinas, ang
magdududa sa mga dapat isagawa. Sa pamamagitan ng mga pagkukusang pampolitika at lokal na
programang pagtanggap ng mga tao mula sa armadong pakikibaka, kailangan nating pababain ang
mga maghihimagsik pababa sa mga burol at, sa bisa ng pangkabuhayang progreso at katarungan, ay
maipakita sa kanila ang lantay na layuning ipinaglalaban nila. Bilang Pangulo, hindi ako magtataksil
sa simulain ng kapayapaang nagluklok sa akin sa kapangyarihan. Gayundin, at walang sinumang
kapanalig ng demokrasyang Pilipino ang mapasusubalian ito, hindi ko palalampasin at pababayaan
ang pamunuan ng maghihimagsik na talikdan ang aming handog na kapayapaan at paslangin ang
aming kabataang kawal, at magbanta sa aming bagong kalayaan. Kailangan ko pa ring maghanap ng
landas ng kapayapaan sa sukdulang paraan dahil ang wakas nito, anuman ang kabiguang
masalubong, ang magiging batayang moral para sa pagpapalaganap ng kapayapaan at pagsusulong ng
digmaan. At kung sumapit sa gayong yugto, hindi ako matatakot sa landas na iginiit ng inyong
dakilang tagapagpalaya: “Walang malisya sa sinuman, may pagkalinga para sa lahat, at may
katatagan sa mga karapatan, gaya ng mga ibinigay na karapatan ng Maykapal, tapusin natin ang
trabahong nasa atin, bendahan ang mga sugat ng bansa, kalingain ang sinumang sumabak sa
digmaan, at para sa kaniyang balo at mga ulila, ay gawin ang lahat ng matatamo at pahalagahan ang
makatarungan at pangmatagalang kapayapaan sa atin at sa lahat ng bansa.” Gaya ni Lincoln,
nauunawaan kong kinakailangan ang puwersa bago ang kapatawaran. Gaya ni Lincoln, hindi ko iyon
gusto. Gayunman ay gagawin ko ang dapat gawin upang ipagtanggol ang integridad at kalayaan ng
aking bansa. At pangwakas, hayaang dumako ako sa iba pang kaalipnan: ang aming $26 bilyong
utang panlabas. Sinabi ko noon na kikilalanin namin ito. Ngunit ang mga pamamaraan ba para
magawa iyon ay ipagkakait sa amin? Maraming kondisyon na ipinataw sa nakaraang gobyerno na
nagnakaw ng inutang ang patuloy na ipinapataw sa aming hindi nakinabang dito. At walang tulong o
liberalidad na katumbas ng kalamidad na ibinigay sa amin ang pinalawig. Gayunman, ang amin ang
pinakamatipid na rebolusyon marahil. Kaming mga Pilipino, na kakaunti ang tulong na nasagap sa
ibang bansa, ang tumupad ng una at pinakamahirap na kondisyon sa negosasyon ng utang: ang
pagpapanumbalik ng demokrasya at responsableng gobyerno. Sa ibang pook, at sa ibang panahon na
higit na mahigpit ang mga pandaigdigang ekonomikong kondisyon, ang mga planong Marshall at
kauri nito ang naisip na mahalagang kasama sa pagpapanumbaiik ng demokrasya. Nang makaharap
ko si Pang. Reagan kahapon, nagsimula kami ng mahalagang diyalogo hinggil sa kooperasyon at
pagpapalakas ng pagkakaibigan sa panig ng dalawang bansa. Ang naturang pulong ang kapuwa
kumpirmasyon at bagong simula, at dapat mauwi sa mga poslibong resulta sa lahat ng panig ng
pangkalahatang usapin. Hinaharap namin ngayon ang mithi ng sambayanang dumanas ng labis na
kahirapan at matinding kawalan ng trabaho sa loob ng labing-apat na taon, ngunit inialay pa rin ang
kani-kanilang buhay para sa malabong demokrasya. Tuwing nangangampanya ako sa mga pook
maralita o liblib na nayon, lumalapit ang mga tao sa akin at sumisigaw ng demokrasya. Hindi
trabaho, bagaman tiyak na nais nila iyon, bagkus demokrasya. Hindi salapi, dahil ibinigay nila sa
akin ang anumang munti nilang naipon para sa kampanya. Hindi nila ako inasahang magbibigay ng
himala na magpapalitaw ng pagkain, damit, edukasyon sa kanilang mga anak, at trabahong
maglalaan nig dignidad sa kanilang buhay. Subalit nararamdaman ko ang pananagutang kumilos
nang mabilis bilang pinuno ng mga tao na karapat-dapat matamo ang mga bagay na ito. Hinaharap
namin ang armadong pakikibaka ng komunista na lumulusog sa pagguho ng kabuhayan, kahit
nakikibahagi kami sa mga tanggulan ng malalayang daigdig sa Pasipiko. Ito ang tanging dalawang
pasaning dinadala ng aking mga kababayan habang sinisikap nilang magtatag ng karapat-dapat at
matibay na tahanan para sa kanilang bagong demokrasya, na makapagsisilbi ring tanggulan para sa
kalayaan ng Asya. Gayunman, hindi pa natatapos maglatag ng bato ay dalawa naman ang tinatangay
palayo. Kalahati ng aming kita sa pagluluwas, na tinatayang $2 sa $4 bilyong dolyar, ang tanging
naiipon namin sa labis na mahigpit na merkado ng daigdig, at ibinabalik pa upang bayaran ang
interes ng utang na ang benepisyo ay hindi natatanggap ng mga tao. Lumaban kami nang matamo
ang dangal, at kahit man lang sa dangal, handa kaming magbayad. Ngunit dapat pa ba nating pigain
ang pambayad mula sa pawis sa mukha ng aming kababayan at ilubog ang lahat ng kayamanang
natipon ng tagapanagot na dalawang daan at limampung taon kumayod nang dibdiban? Sa lahat ng
Amerikano, bilang pinuno ng marangal at malayang bansa, ipinupukol ko ang tanong na ito:
Mayroon bang hihigit sa pagsubok ng pambansang pagtataya sa mga mithi na inyong
pinahahalagahan kaysa sa dinanas ng aking mga kababayan? Gumugol kayo ng maraming buhay at
maraming yaman upang maghatid ng kalayaan sa maraming lupain na pawang bantulot tanggapin
yaon. At dito ay may sambayanang nagwagi nang mag-isa at kailangan lamang ang tulong upang
mapanatili ang natamo. Tatlong taon na ang nakalilipas ay sinabi kong Salamat, Amerika, para sa
kanlungan ng inaapi, at sa tahanang ibinigay mo kay Ninoy, sa akin at sa aking mga anak, at para sa
tatlong masayang taon naming pinagsamahan. Ngayon, sinasabi kong, samahan ninyo kami,
Amerika, habang itinitindig namin ang bagong tahanan para sa demokrasya, ang bagong kanlungan
para sa inaapi, upang makatindig ito bilang kumikinang na—testamento ng ating dalawang bansang
nagtataya sa kalayaan.1

Czarina Pauline
Isinalin sa Filipino ni G. Roberto T. Añonuevo ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino

When former President Corazon Aquino spoke before a joint session of the United
States Congress in September of 1986, the dust was only beginning to settle. It was
her first visit to America since the dictator Ferdinand Marcos had been deposed in
February of the same year, and the Philippines was reckoning with everything his
administration had inflicted. That included $26 billion in total foreign debt, and a
communist insurgency that grew, throughout the Marcos era, from 500 armed
guerillas to 16,000. We were just at the start of a long road to recovery.
So Aquino lodged an appeal for help. Addressing the House, she delivered a
historic speech that managed to sway in our favor the vote for an emergency
$200-million aid appropriation. In the moving speech penned by her
speechwriter (and our current ambassador to the United Nations) Teddy
Locsin, Jr., Aquino defended her reconciliatory stand on the communist
insurgency—a sensitive issue in the U.S., given that this was 1986—and asked
for financial aid towards rebuilding the Philippine economy.
"We fought for honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay," she said, agreeing
to pay the debt that was stolen by Marcos. "And yet, should we have to wring
the payments from the sweat of our men’s faces and sink all the wealth piled
up by the bondsman’s two hundred fifty years of unrequited toil?"

The speech was impassioned, deeply personal, and effective; interrupted 11

times by applause and bookended with standing ovations. House Speaker Tip
O'Neill called it the "finest speech I've ever heard in my 34 years in
Congress." Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole told her, "Cory, you hit a home
run." And House Minority Whip Trent Lott said, "Let's just say the emotion of
the moment saved the day." It would go down in the annals of our history as
one of the former President's finest speeches.

Revisit her speech in its entirety:

.
Aquino Appeals to Congress
House Majority Leader James C. Wright Jr. (D-Tex.) did not have 200 yellow
roses flown here from Texas to honor Philippine President Corazon Aquino at
her speech before Congress Thursday, as reported yesterday. He bought them
from a Washington flower shop. In the same article, Rep. Stephen J. Solarz
(D-N.Y.) was incorrectly identified as a Republican.

By Joanne Omang

September 19, 1986

President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, her path strewn with yellow roses, moved triumphantly
through Congress yesterday with an emotional appeal for new aid and support for her country that
drew an immediate response.

Within hours the House, voting, as one member said, "with our hearts, not our heads," bypassed
normal procedures to approve a $ 200 million emergency aid package for the Philippines, with the
Senate to take up the aid later. [Details on Page A19.]

Addressing a standing-room-only joint session of Congress yesterday morning, Aquino related the
history of her late husband Benigno, whose assassination in August 1983 triggered the peaceful
revolution that brought her to power last February. She promised that she, like Abraham Lincoln,
would strive for peace but be ready to fight if necessary to preserve unity and democracy.

America has "spent many lives and much treasure to bring freedom to many lands that were
reluctant to receive it. And here you have a people who won it by themselves and need only the help
to preserve it," she said.
Many in the audience of Cabinet members, diplomats, senators and congressmen honored Aquino's
signature color by displaying the color themselves. The chamber was sprinkled with yellow shirts,
blouses, ties, handkerchiefs and some of the 200 yellow roses flown in from Texas by House Majority
Leader James C. Wright Jr. (D-Tex.).

Led by Filipino-Americans cheering from the galleries, the audience interrupted Aquino 10 times
with applause. Afterward, House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) said, "That's the
finest speech I've heard in my 34 years in Congress."

Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), escorting Aquino up the House aisle to the
tumultuous applause, told her, "You hit a home run." Without a pause between handshakes,
according to a Dole aide, Aquino replied, "I hope the bases were loaded."

Five hours later, the House unexpectedly voted, 203 to 197, to provide the new economic aid, and a
similar measure that had been inert in the Senate for several months suddenly began to move.

"The speech was worth at least 50 votes," exulted Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (R-N.Y.), chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and one of Aquino's strongest backers. Foreign Affairs
Committee Chairman Dante B. Fascell (D-Fla.) said that count was "on the low side. I've never seen
such a spontaneous, enthusiastic reception," he said.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) noted that new aid "runs
counter to the entire trend" of pending congressional cuts in foreign assistance, but said Aquino's
speech had been "a magic moment" and predicted committee approval of the $ 200 million package
in the next few days.

Aquino charmed some of her congressional critics. "She's a doll," said Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.),
who has expressed concern that Aquino is not being tough enough on two leftist guerrilla
insurgencies in the Philippines.

"She's on the right track" in advocating peace overtures before renewed fighting, and showed
"consummate finesse . . . , good political instincts" in answering pointed questions during meetings
with House and Senate members after her speech, he said.

Teodoro Benigno, a spokesman for Aquino, said later that the members had pushed her "to send
stronger signals" that two huge U.S. military bases will be allowed to remain in the Philippines after
the agreement governing their presence expires in 1991. "But she stuck to her position" that the
bases' status must be renegotiated starting in 1988, he said.

She told the lawmakers they could best help the Philippines by opening U.S. markets to Philippine
clothing and sugar, and was "very pleased" to learn that $ 20 million in sugar sales allotted to South
Africa would be transferred to the Philippines under pending sanctions legislation, Benigno said.

Aquino told the joint session that Benigno Aquino's death "was my country's resurrection" from the
corrupt 20-year rule of former president Ferdinand Marcos, whom she referred to only as "the
dictator."

"As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it," she said.

By the first anniversary of her presidency next February, the nation will have restored full
constitutional government and held new elections, she said. "Given the polarization and breakdown
we inherited, this is no small achievement."
 Responding to conservative concerns, Aquino devoted much of her 30-minute address to the subject
of the guerrillas with whom she has been negotiating for a cease-fire. Marcos, she said, "set aside
democracy to save it," and rebel strength grew under his repressive tactics from 500 to more than
16,000. "I think there is a lesson here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with the means by
which it grows," she said.

She said she would promote economic progress and justice to bring the insurgents into the political
process and would turn to military force only if that effort fails.

"I must explore the path of peace to the utmost," she said, "for at its end, whatever disappointment I
meet there, is the moral basis for laying down the olive branch of peace and picking up the sword of
war."

Aquino, 53, said that like Lincoln she would have "malice toward none" but would "understand that
force may be necessary before mercy." Then she chided Congress for failing to help free the
Philippines from "that other slavery, our $ 26 billion foreign debt."

Current repayment terms were imposed on the Marcos government, and "No assistance or liberality
commensurate with the calamity that was visited on us has been extended, yet ours must have been
the cheapest revolution ever," she said. The audience responded with laughter and cheers.

Aquino called her visit and her meeting with President Reagan Wednesday "a new beginning" that
should lead to "positive results."

"We face a communist insurgency that feeds on economic deteriorization even as we carry a great
share of the free world's defenses in the Pacific," she said. "Yet, no sooner is one stone laid than two
are taken away."

She said the Philippines earned $ 4 billion in foreign exchange last year but spent $ 2 billion "to pay
just the interest on a debt whose benefits the Filipino people never received."

Philippine economic minister Jaime Ongpin announced Wednesday that the last details of a $ 508
million agreement with the International Monetary Fund had been worked out, paving the way for
the Philippines to negotiate with its commercial creditors toward a goal of reducing debt payments
from 50 percent of foreign earnings to 25 percent.

The Philippines Cory Hits a Grand Slam

By Michael S. Serrill Sunday, June 24, 2001

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It was her first visit to the U.S. since becoming President, and everywhere she went Corazon Aquino's
reception seemed to get warmer and warmer. When her commercial Philippine Airlines 747 touched
down at San Francisco International airport, she was greeted by nearly 1,000 supporters shouting
"Cory! Cory! Cory!" After switching to a special U.S. Government aircraft for the cross-country flight
to Washington, the Philippine leader charmed White House officials with her simple, direct manner.
A private meeting with President Reagan that had been scheduled for 15 minutes stretched out to 45,
and afterward Reagan declared, "I'm bullish on the Philippines."

Aquino saved her most impressive performance for a speech before a joint session of Congress,
whose members greeted her wearing yellow ties and tossing yellow roses flown in specially from
Texas; the color has become Aquino's trademark. She defended her policy of reconciliation with the
Philippines' Communist insurgents and asked Congress for more financial aid to rebuild the
Philippines' shattered economy. "You have spent many lives and much treasure to bring freedom to
many lands that were reluctant to receive it," said Aquino. "And here you have a people who won it
by themselves and need only the help to preserve it."

The eloquent half- hour address began and ended with standing ovations, and was interrupted by
applause eleven times. It was, said House Speaker Tip O'Neill, the "finest speech I've ever heard in
my 34 years in Congress." Above the din of cheering officials, Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole
said to Mrs. Aquino, "Cory, you hit a home run." Without missing a beat, Aquino smiled and shot
back: "I hope the bases were loaded."

Indeed, they seemed to be. Some five hours later the House of Representatives voted, 203 to 197, in
favor of $200 million in emergency aid to her fledgling government. The vote, admitted Democrat
Gerald Kleczka of Wisconsin, amounted to "legislating with our hearts instead of our heads." Indeed,
the measure only added to a foreign-aid budget that is already likely to be deeply slashed by the
Gramm-Rudman budget-balancing mechanism. The bill is unlikely to pass the Senate.
By the end of her nine-day, four-city U.S. tour, Aquino garnered not just the affection of the
Americans she had met but their respect. The woman who a year ago had been widely regarded as an
untutored political amateur, famous only as the widow of the assassinated opposition leader Benigno
(Ninoy) Aquino Jr., had no trouble persuading official Washington that a strategic U.S. ally in the
Pacific is in capable hands. "She knows how to deal with the problems of the Philippines," said a
senior U.S. official. "She's really done a hell of a job."

Aquino went a long way toward proving her credibility during her meetings with Reagan. At their
private session in the Oval Office and a working lunch afterward, Aquino assured Reagan that her
government would respect the existing agreement regarding the two major U.S. military bases in the
Philippines, Subic Bay Naval Station and Clark Air Base. For months Aquino has been under intense
pressure from many supporters to renounce the American military presence. The current pact
expires in 1991 but is scheduled for review by both signatories in 1988. Said Reagan: "That gives us
and the people of the Philippines plenty of time to think about it."

Aquino's position was bolstered in Manila, where a 48-member commission, charged by Aquino with
drafting a new constitution, defeated a move by leftist delegates to ban all foreign military bases from
Philippine soil. Instead, the commission agreed to leave the issue out of the constitution, making
lease extensions for the U.S. military bases subject to legislative approval.

Aquino did her best to persuade President Reagan that if the economic wreckage that she inherited
from former President Ferdinand Marcos, including a $26 billion foreign debt, is to be repaired, U.S.
aid levels will have to rise. After their meetings, the two Presidents emerged on the White House
portico for a press conference and a ceremony at which Treasury Secretary James Baker signed over
to the Philippines $100 million in economic aid and $50 million in military assistance. In addition,
the U.S. donated $20 million in medical supplies. All but the $20 million, however, was part of a
$505 million 1986 aid package that was already in the pipeline before Aquino took office.

By far the most sensitive issue discussed by the two leaders was the Philippines' Communist
insurgency. Aquino reportedly stood firm in her belief that talks are a sensible first step toward
peace. Nonetheless, she made it clear, as she told Congress, that her government would "not stand by
and let an insurgent leadership spurn our offer of peace and kill our young soldiers and threaten our
new freedom." If her peace effort fails, Aquino vowed, she will not hesitate to take up the "sword of
war." Like Abraham Lincoln, she said, "I understand that force may be necessary before mercy." Last
week White House and State Department officials went out of their way to support her position.
"This Administration fully backs her efforts to find a peaceful solution to the war," said one senior
U.S. official.

After her triumph in Washington, Aquino flew to New York City, where she met with business
leaders in an effort to spur new investment in the Philippines and delivered an address in the TIME
Distinguished Speakers series. At week's end she went to Boston to give a speech at Harvard and
accept an honorary degree from Boston University, then visited her former home in suburban
Newton, Mass., where she and her husband lived in exile for three years. She was scheduled to
address the United Nations on Monday.

Her stunningly successful U.S. visit will not diminish the problems Aquino must face when she
returns this week to Manila. But it certainly added a luster of political sophistication to her image as
an honest, principled leader. And that should buy her much needed time -- and the increased loyalty
of the Phil- ippine people -- in the difficult months ahead.