Former Philippines President Corazon “Cory” Aquino has peacefully passed away at the Makati Medical Centre in Manila at 3.18am, August 1, 2009, Saturday of cardio-respiratory arrest. She was 76 and has suffered from colon cancer. May she rest in peace.Condolences to her family.

CORY Aquino, the housewife who became Philippines president and a national hero after her husband was murdered, has died.

Aquino, the hero of Philippines democracy, died today of cardiac arrest after battling colon cancer for more than a year, her son announced. She was 76.

“Our mother peacefully passed away at 3.18am, August 1, 2009 of cardio-respiratory arrest,” Senator Benigno Aquino Jr said outside the Makati Medical Centre in Manila, where his mother had been admitted to hospital.

“She would have wanted us to thank each and every one of you for all the prayers and the continuous love and support.

“It was her wish for all of us to pray for one another and for the country.”

A close family friend, Boy Abunda, said funeral arrangements would be announced later in the day. He said Aquino had been surrounded by members of her immediate family when she died.

Presidential spokesman Cerge Remonde said the government had declared a week of national mourning and would give Aquino a state funeral.

Aquino, the widow of assassinated opposition leader Benigno `”Ninoy” Aquino, was propelled into the spotlight in 1986, when she headed a huge “people power” movement that toppled the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

A former housewife who reluctantly became president, she went on to restore democracy in the Philippines and rewrite the country’s constitution.

Until March last year, when she withdrew from public life after being diagnosed with cancer, she had been active in street protests denouncing corruption in the government.

More than a month ago, she was rushed into emergency medical care after she lost appetite and her weight fell dramatically.

Earlier a spokeswoman for the family said Aquino had given up all medical intervention, including chemotherapy, and would leave her fate to God.

Just a few days ago, Benigno Aquino said his mother’s cancer had spread to her liver.

— News Excerpt from The Australian News