1996 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding
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1996 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding |
As president of the Republic of the Philippines (1986-1992), Corazon Cojuangco Aquino led her country's difficult transition from dictatorship to democracy. After re-establishing the democratic institutions, her administration made them work, bringing about substantive economic and social reforms. Through great personal courage and unwavering commitment to non-violence, she successfully served her term in office and presided over the peaceful and orderly transfer of power to her successor President Fidel V. Ramos.
Born in Manila on January 25, 1933, Cory Aquino was educated in exclusive girls' schools in Manila, before she left for the U.S.A. where she completed her high school and college education. Her father was a three term congressman. Her mother, a pharmacist, was the daughter of a senator.
Cory Aquino graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York where she majored in French and minored in Mathematics. Upon her return to the Philippines, she pursued studies in Law which she discontinued upon her marriage to Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. The marriage was blessed with four daughters and one son, and Mrs. Aquino is now the proud grandmother of five grandsons and two granddaughters.
The late Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., was assassinated on August 21, 1983, at the Manila International Airport, becoming a martyr in the Philippines' struggle for democracy. Senator Aquino, the Opposition leader at the time of his death, had been the first person jailed upon the declaration of martial law in 1972. He suffered incarceration in a military camp for seven years and seven months, with only a brief respite in the U.S. to undergo heart surgery.
For furthering the aspirations of her people for a just society and a better life while honoring Senator's Aquino's memory, Cory Aquino has been conferred 16 honorary degrees from universities in the Philippines, the U.S.A., Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Italy. She was named Time magazine's Woman of the Year for 1986. Following her administration's international initiatives on human rights and on issues affecting women, children, and the family, Cory Aquino now serves a co-president of the Forum of Democratic leaders with Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, Sonja Gandhi of India, and Kim Dae-Jung of South Korea. Her leadership and her example have been recognized by the Martin Luther King Jr. Non-violent Peace Prize, the United Nations Development Fund for Women's Noel Award for Political Leadership, and the 1993 Special Peace Award from the Aurora Aragon Quezon Peace Awards and Concerned Women of the Philippines, among other distinctions.
Cory Aquino now serves as chairperson of the Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation, which awards scholarships for education and develops linkages for non-governmental organizations to improve the quality of life for Filipinos. She is also chairperson of the Board of Advisors of the Metrobank Foundation and serves as honorary chairperson of the Philippine National Centennial Commission, of the Foundation for Clean Elections, of the Sulung Pampanga Foundation and the Piso't Puso ng Tarlac Foundation.
Last updated: September 05, 2008
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