Corazon Aquino Speech before the US
Congress
 One of the most prominent figure of
the 1986 People Power
 Wife of the assassinated opposition
figurehead during the Martial Law
era
 11th President and the 1st female
President in Southeast Asia
 Named as “Woman of the Year” in
1986 and one of the 20 Most
Influential Asians of the 20th Century
in 1999 by Time Magazine
 Has held no other elective officer
prior to Presidency
Content Analysis
 The speech started with the narrative
of Ninoy’s assassination on August
21, 1986
 Before Ninoy’s assassination, there
were series of events tracing back
when Marcos declared Martial Law
on September 21, 1972 and practiced
dictatorial powers
 Re-establishment the Communist
Party of the Philippines in 1968;
New Peoples’s Army increased to
more than 20,000 men by the 80’s.
Relevance
 Most significant achievement of
Aguinaldo’s dictatorial government
 The Philippines was proclaimed
independent after decades of being a
colony
 The Philippines earned its own
identity
 The document affirmed the
following:
o Atrocities of the Spaniards.
o Struggles of the Filipinos for
independence.
o Dictatorial government under
Aguinaldo.
 The very first and solid proof of
struggle of the Filipinos for
independence
 It served as a culmination of our
existence as a nation
 It marked the beginning where the
Filipinos had constitutional rights
Context Analysis
 Cory delivered her speech before the
US Congress on September 18,
1986. Barely 7 months after being
sworn into office under a
revolutionary government brought
about by the 1986 EDSA Revolution
 At that time,Cory’s presidency was
standing on a unstable ground
o Economic situation was in
shamble
o Massive unemployment and
poverty
o Military’s loyalty to the new
administration is still in
question; a coup attempt
sparked 5 months after
o The communist insurgency is
gripping the country side
o The newly established
government needs all foreign
allies
 The cessationist movement in the
south by the Muslims were
considered as a threat by Marcos
 Marcos crushed the institution of
democracy enshrined in the
constitution, dissolving the
Congress, curtailing freedom of the
press, concocting rebellion cases and
criminal acts to those who fought
against the dictatorship as evidenced
by Ninoy’s military trial
 Ninoy’s challenged the military
commission through hunger strike;
his health detoriated which led to this
medical exile in Boston, MA
  Ninoy’s eventually declared to go
back to the Philippines which led to
his assassination
 Rolando Galman, the alleged
assassin, was gunned down by
Aviation Security personnel
 Another passenger named Rebecca
Quijano testified that she was a man
in Military uniform right behind
Ninoy shooting him at the back of
his head; a post-mortem analysis
indeed showed that Ninoy was shot
from the back at close range
 Approximately 2M Filipinos set
aside their passivity and fear of the
oppressive regime during his funeral
that lasted for 11 hours
 Ninoy’s death awakened the people’s
desire for democracy
GROUP 5 (BSA-2A)
Leader: Sanchez, Elmarie
Members:
Delos Santos, Mary Grace
Mariano, Christian Louie
Pagador, Anbert Ejie
Pascua, Rhea Marie
Relevance
 The document significantly
contributed to the development of
diplomatic history of the country in
general and in the US-Philippine
relations in particular
 Cory’s historic speech strengthened
political, economic and social ties
between the two nations
 The US Congress granted the
Philippines an initial $200 million as
emergency aid to help build the
economy
 The US also reiterated its long time
commitment to defend the security
of the Philippines via Mutual
Defense Agreement
 With the present administrator’s
foreign policy shift towards the US,
the speech may be a document that
could be included in the discourse on
Phil-US relations