--- description: Corazon Aquino is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Corazon Aquino: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20b63b426da6ef5a/698a0aef16d884b0bdc37cf6/social-1986_Corazon-Aquino2.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1986: Corazon Aquino Mar 5, 2020 11:40 AM CUT  Diana Walker by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:40 AM CUT There was a mythic quality to Corazon Aquino’s ascent. Well-born and a devout Catholic, she was a supportive wife to the Philippines’ most prominent critic of kleptocratic dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and seemingly harbored no political ambitions until her husband’s murder in 1983\. She took over as leader of the opposition and won the presidency in 1986 after ordinary people gathered to protect soldiers who refused to stuff ballot boxes. TIME named her [Woman of the Year](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,963185,00.html "undefined"). Filipinos went with “Mother of Democracy.” That democracy has endured on the archipelago. So have its power structures: a tradition of elite rule helped her son Benigno Aquino III to a widely admired term as President. And his coarse, swaggering successor, Rodrigo Duterte, daily demonstrates both the machismo Corazon Aquino overcame, and the value of the principled civility she modeled. _—Karl Vick_  Opposition presidential candidate Corazon Aquino waves back at the crowd upon arrival for a campaign rally Jan. 20, 1986.Val Rodriguez—AP --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793685/corazon-aquino-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793685/corazon-aquino-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1986: Corazon Aquino","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:40:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:33.136Z","description":"Corazon Aquino is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793685/corazon-aquino-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20b63b426da6ef5a/698a0aef16d884b0bdc37cf6/social-1986_Corazon-Aquino2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20b63b426da6ef5a/698a0aef16d884b0bdc37cf6/social-1986_Corazon-Aquino2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1986 Corazon-Aquino2","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793685/corazon-aquino-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1986: Corazon Aquino"}}]}] ```