Closing of United States military bases

President Corazon Aquino addresses base workers at a rally at Remy Field concerning jobs for Filipino
workers after the Americans withdraw from the U.S. facilities.

Soon after Aquino took office, several Philippine senators declared that the presence of U.S. military
forces in the Philippines was an affront to national sovereignty. The senators called for the United States
military to vacate U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay and Clark Air Base, and Aquino opposed their demand.[62]
The United States objected by stating that they had leased the property and that the leases were still in
effect.[63] The United States stated that the facilities at Subic Bay were unequaled anywhere in
Southeast Asia and a U.S. pullout could make all of that region of the world vulnerable to an incursion by
the Soviet Union or by a resurgent Japan. Another issue with the demand was that thousands of
Filipinos worked at these military facilities and they would lose their jobs if the U.S. military moved out.
Aquino opposed the Senate's demand and believed that the bases should have remained. Aquino
organized a protest against the pullout, which only gathered between 100,000 and 150,000 supporters,
far short of the 500,000 to 1 million that had been originally expected.[64]

The matter was still being debated when Mount Pinatubo erupted in June 1991, covering the entire area
with volcanic ash. Despite attempts to continue the Subic Base, Aquino finally conceded. In December
1991, the government served notice that the U.S. had to close the base by the end of 1992.[65]

Natural disasters and calamities

On 20 December 1987, the MV Doña Paz sank after a collision with the oil tanker MV Vector. The final
death toll exceeded 4,300 people, and the sinking has been called the deadliest peacetime maritime
disaster of the 20th century.[66] In the aftermath, Aquino addressed the incident as "a national tragedy
of harrowing proportions."[67]

The 1990 Luzon earthquake was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the island of Luzon. It left an
estimate of 1,621 people dead and massive property damage.

In 1991, a volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo, then thought to be dormant, killed around 800 people
and caused widespread long-term devastation of agricultural lands in Central Luzon.[68] Around 20,000
residents had to be evacuated and around 10,000 people were left homeless by the event. It was the
second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century.

On 1 November 1991 Tropical Storm Thelma (also known as Typhoon Uring) caused massive flooding in
Ormoc City, leaving around 5,000 dead in what was then considered to be the deadliest typhoon in
Philippine history. On 8 November, Aquino declared all of Leyte a disaster area.[69]
Electrical power grid inadequacy

During Aquino's presidency, electric blackouts became common in Manila. The city experienced 7–12
hours-long blackouts, which severely affected its businesses. By the departure of Aquino in June 1992,
businesses in Manila and nearby provinces had lost nearly $800 million since the preceding March.

Corazon Aquino's decision to deactivate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which was built during
the Marcos administration, contributed to further electricity crises in the 1990s, as the 620 megawatts
capacity of the plant would have been enough to cover the shortfall at that time.[70] Critics of the BNPP
had stated that the power plant was unsafe, and cited the millions of dollars in bribes paid to President
Marcos to allow its construction.[70] The administration had failed to provide for an adequate
replacement for the plant before her term had completed, and President Corazon Aquino ended her
term in 1992 with the country reeling under a severe power shortage crisis.[71][72]

Influence in 1992 presidential election

The 1987 Constitution limited the president to a single six-year term with no possibility of re-election. As
the end of her presidency drew near, close advisers and friends told Aquino that since she was not
inaugurated under the 1987 Constitution, she was still eligible to seek the presidency again in the
upcoming 1992 elections, the first presidential elections held under normal and peaceful circumstances
since 1965. However, Aquino firmly declined the requests for her to seek reelection, citing her strong
belief that the presidency was not a lifetime position.

Initially, she named Ramon V. Mitra, Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives who had been a
friend of her husband, as her preferred candidate for the 1992 presidential elections. However, she later
backtracked and instead supported the candidacy of General Fidel V. Ramos, who was her defense
secretary and a key figure in the EDSA Revolution. Ramos had consistently stood by her government
during the various coup attempts that were launched against her administration. Her sudden change of
mind and withdrawal of support from Mitra drew criticism from her supporters in the liberal and social
democratic sectors. Her decision also drew criticism from the Catholic Church, which questioned her
support of Ramos due to his being a Protestant. General Ramos won the 1992 elections with 23.58% of
the total votes in a wide-open campaign.

On 30 June 1992, Corazon Aquino formally and peacefully handed over power to Fidel Ramos. On that
day, Fidel V. Ramos was inaugurated as the twelfth president of the Philippines. After the inauguration,
Aquino left the ceremony in a simple white Toyota Crown she had purchased, rather than the lavish
government-issued Mercedes Benz in which she and Ramos had ridden on the way to the ceremonies,
to make the point that she was once again an ordinary citizen.[73]
Post-presidency

Corazon Aquino speaking before the 2003 Ninoy Aquino Award ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Domestic

During Aquino's retirement and stay as a private citizen, she remained active in the Philippine political
scene. Aquino would voice her dissent to government actions and policies that she deemed threats to
the democratic foundations of the country.

In 1997, Aquino, together with Cardinal Jaime Sin, led a rally opposing President Fidel Ramos' attempt to
extend his term through his proposal to amend the 1987 Constitution's restriction on presidential term
limits. Ramos' proposed charter change would fail, leaving term limits and the presidential system in
place.