Historical Background of the Film

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.
ISSUES TACKLED IN THE SPEECH

In the 1970s Marcos took out huge amounts of foreign currency loans that by the
1980s his regime could not repay. He tried to hide the dire financial situation by
overstating the figures for foreign reserves. By then the economy was in a free fall: GDP
growth dropped 5.3 percent, prices of primary export commodities fell by 50 percent,
workers’ wages were reduced, and unemployment hit one-fourth of the labor force. The
crisis worsened with the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in August 1983. As foreign banks
withheld their credit facilities, Marcos declared bankruptcy in October 1983 and sought a
90-day moratorium on principal debt payments. The World Bank provided bailout loans
to avert a default but with painful conditions like cutting the government budget, peso
devaluation, tariff dismantling, and ending subsidies. Marcos had become the proverbial
debt addict wholly dependent on foreign aid.

One of the reasons Marcos cited to justify martial law was the communist threat.
But in 1972, the communists were politically active but militarily weak. Founded less
than four years earlier, the Communist Party's armed wing, the New People's Army, had
about 1,000 fighters and 600 guns. Today, the NPA claims 12,500 regular and a further
20,000 local guerrillas. They are active over much of the country, including the third-
largest city of Davao, on the southern island of Mindanao. Filipino and foreign observers
estimate that within the next three years the NPA will be strong enough to confront the
armed forces head on.
Content Analysis of the Film

“Ours must have been the cheapest revolution ever,” Pres. Corazon Aquino said
in a speech she delivered before the joint session of the US Congress on September 18,
1986. Aquino delivered this speech more than 20 years ago. The younger generation
could hear it and watch it over and over again in order to review and disagree with her
policies, or to laud her vow to uphold democracy at all costs.

Corazon Aquino is 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. Aquino delivered her speech on September 18, 1986, seven
months after the EDSA Revolution on February 25, 1986. It was three years after the
assassination to Senator Benigno Aquino on year 1983. Philippines were 7 months free
from the martial law era that lasted for 14 years as dictator President Marcos leads at that
time. The content of her speech declare the freedom of the Filipinos from the Marcos
regime and mark a new beginning for the Filipinos and to its government. It also appeals
for financial assistance by informing the Americans about the Philippines state.

It has been known by everyone that the Marcos-Aquino families greatly

hate 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.

As you watched her speech, you will realize that Cory Aquino awakened
the minds of the Filipino people. “We fought for honor, and if only for honor, we shall
pay,” she said with a determination belied by her signature calm demeanor. 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. “The task had
fallen on my shoulders to continue offering the democratic alternative to our people”.
These lines explain that she took the responsibilities in taking care and fighting for the
sake of freedom of the whole country.

There are others still who recognized her shortcomings as a president, but thanked
her for restoring democracy – the one thing which the Filipinos craved for the most, as
Aquino herself learned while campaigning in 1986. “Not food, but democracy, not work,
but democracy, not money for what little they had, they gave it to my campaign,” she
said in her speech before the US Congress. But Cory herself, as shown in the videos,
credited the country’s return to democracy to nobody else, but the Filipino people. Here,
you have a people, who won it by themselves and need only the help to preserve it,’ she
said in a speech delivered more than 20 years ago, but whose message would literally
continue to remain fresh and alive in the vast online world. Cory Aquino was devastated
and sad about the situation of the country about the two decades of social and political
oppression.

Today, Mrs. Aquino’s reputation rests mainly on her role as the leader of a people
power revolution of the kind that seemed to be sweeping the world a few years ago. Her
yellow dress and the yellow ribbons inspired even seen as the forerunners of the roses,
tulips, and other coloured emblems of these uprisings.
Contribution to Historical Narrative

August 21, 1983 when Senator Benigno Semion “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., when he
assassinated at Manila International Airport. Sen. Ninoy was a Filipino politician who
served as a Senator of the Philippines and a former Governor of Tarlac. He killed because
of his political desire for national freedom and democracy, under the President Marcos
dictatorship.

According to an autopsy report of Sen. Benigno Aquino said the death was
result of “Brain laceration and Intracranial hemorrhage, secondary to gunshot would at
the head.” The fatal bullet was fired close range.

The speech of President Corazon Aquino, widens the insight of every Filipino
about the cruel and reckless rule of Ferdinand Marcos. The assassination of Ninoy
Aquino, gives a great impact in the society, reasoned for him to become a headline of
news entitled “The Death of a Hero”.

The speech of President Cory Aquino, highlighted the death of his husband and
the Martial Law of former President Ferdinand Marcos. The Pres. Cory Aquino’s legacy
helped to restore democracy to the country from dictatorship of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos
for “almost” 21-years of rule.

February 22-25, 1986 is a people power revolution (also known as EDSA

Revolution). It is a populist driving force of social movement and willpower for enlisting
Marcos as the President of the Philippines. It’s also a methods used amounted to a
sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud.
Relevance to Contemporary Times

Democracy’s finest victory in almost a decade came more quickly and less
bloodily than anybody, including the woman who won it would have dreamed
possible. Cory Aquino’s ejection of Ferdinand Marcos from the Philippine
Presidency is a testimony to the strength of her countrymen’s feeling that the
president they chose by the ballot box should be the President they got. It is also a
reminder, at the end of a February of falling dictators of the uses to which a
powerful America can put its authority.

From the assassination of her husband, Ninoy Aquino, on Aug. 21, 1983,
to the time she stepped down as the president of the Philippines in 1992 when her
term ended, she led her people through many struggles and coup attempts. After
1992, instead of living a quiet, peaceful life which she deserved, President Cory
continued to publicly speak on many national and international issues. She even
led street demonstrations, reminiscent of People Power, to speak out on major
issues like corruption and Charter Change. It is in one of those speeches where
she reiterated her values.

Many of the thoughts that she articulated after her presidency continue to
have relevance today. She had a message for those in business when she gave a
speech to the Young Presidents’Organization in 1996. The speech is entitled,
“The Ultimate Bottomline: People.” She posed several questions to the young
presidents, pointing out the need for reflection: “As you careen your way to
success, working as if there were no tomorrow, you must take time to stop and
reflect on what you are doing. Ask yourself the hard questions, like what is the
relevance of your work to your family, to your employee, and the larger society?
What are you working so hard for? How much is enough? When do you have too
much? What is the point acquiring so much wealth and power? Have you given
back as much as you have taken?”
 The moment of her departure from the presidency was a low point in her
brief yet quite remarkable political career, leaving as she did in an atmosphere of
disenchantment and unrealised hopes. Yet overall, she left a mark on the history
of her troubled country, so deep and so lasting that her death will bring a surge of
emotion as the heady days of the short but memorable Aquino era are reassessed.

As president of the Republic of the Philippines between 1986 and 1992,

she led her country's eventful transition from dictatorship to democracy. In a few
turbulent years, she gained a presidency which she had not wanted, and which
came to her at the cost of the death of her husband. She was thrust into power by
his assassination and by the passion of the millions who took to the streets to
sweep away the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

She will always be remembered as the inspirational leader in the fight to

restore democracy and dignity to our country after decades of dictatorship,
cronyism, and human rights violations during the Marcos martial law regime.To
the whole world, she was an icon of democracy and the Mother of People Power.
One of the most touching statements after she passed away came from then US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said, “Aquino helped bring democracy
back to the Philippines after many years of authoritarian rule with a faith in her
country and its people that never wavered . . . . Like millions of people
worldwide, Bill and I were inspired by her quiet strength and her unshakable
commitment to justice and freedom.”From the assassination of her husband,
Ninoy Aquino, on Aug. 21, 1983, to the time she stepped down as the president of
the Philippines in 1992 when her term ended, she led her people through many
struggles and coup attempts. With her dedication, our generation experience a
democratic government that help us to decide on our own and free to do the things
that we want to do. But the question is, do you think we need Corazon Aquino at
present? Do you think we need a voice that will reveals the feelings of our co-
Filipinos? As much as we go through and conquering how our country be the best
as what other country does, we should develop first a democratic, accountable,
has integrity, loyalthy and acquired a public trust government.

Corazon Aquino talked of what women leaders can do to make a

difference in society. She talked of selfless love for and service to the people, of
total dedication to a higher cause, of unshakable courage and integrity, and of
steadfast faith. She used these words to describe Mother Teresa. In her humility,
she would never use these words to describe herself. In fact, one time she also
said, “I am not a hero like Mandela.” But the accolades she received and continue
to receive tell us that history will always remember her greatness.

A grateful nation will never forget the heroine, dressed in yellow, who
became the icon of democracy, the Mother of People Power who fervently prayed
for the Filipino people.

Today Mrs Aquino's reputation rests mainly on her role as the leader of a
people-power revolution of the kind that seemed to be sweeping the world a few
years ago. Her yellow dress and the yellow ribbons it inspired are even seen as the
forerunners of the roses, tulips and other coloured emblems of these uprisings.
Unfortunately, in the Philippines, as elsewhere, people power has sometimes
turned into mob rule rather than direct democracy.

Today, the Philippines enjoys a bicameral Congress, an independent

judiciary, a free press, and most of all, guaranteed individual rights. Not many
countries which went through a similar peaceful revolution can claim the same
achievements. And while Mrs. Aquino’s economic/social records were not
significant, the democratic foundation she has built continues to be used to this
day as a platform for further economic growth and social change. Restoring
democracy is no small feat, it requires unswerving courage and moral leadership-
characteristics which Mrs. Aquino so genuinely demonstrated.
 References:

https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/revisit-cory-aquino-s-historic-1986-speech-
before-the-us-congress-a00207-
20180125?fbclid=IwAR2JrSgvX8QwvAVL0BJFkE0VqKeTjzrtB4sPTuPTxABLqvoAb
YybG8Sg2WA

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1986/09/18/speech-of-president-corazon-aquino-
during-the-joint-session-of-the-u-s-congress-september-18-1986/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/08/05/1839674/gratitude
-cory-aquino/amp/