MARIA CORAZON COJUANGCO AQUINO (CORY AQUINO)

President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. With Salvador Laurel as running mate, she led the
opposition that overthrew the authoritarian government of Marcos, who went into exile after the
successful People’s Power revolution of 1986. She first established a revolutionary government under
the Freedom Constitution, later replaced by the Constitution of 1987, which served as the basis for
reestablishing democracy.

Maria Corazon Aquino was born January 25, 1933, in Tarlac, Philippines. Her husband had
been an opponent of Ferdinand Marcos and was assassinated upon returning from exile. When
Marcos unexpectedly called for elections in 1986, Corazon Aquino became the unified
opposition's presidential candidate. She took office after Marcos fled the country, and served as
president, with mixed results, until 1992.
Cory Aquino did not aspire to be a politician. In 1955, after graduating from Mount St. Vincent
College in New York City, she married Benigno Aquino (nicknamed “Ninoy”), a young politician.
Ninoy Aquino became a popular, outspoken opponent of Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator who held
the presidency from 1965. In 1972, Ninoy was imprisoned for eight long years, and then exiled to
the United States. Ninoy was finally allowed to return to his homeland in 1983, only to be
assassinated the moment he arrived.
Ninoy’s imprisonment, exile, and assassination outraged the people and spurred Ferdinand’s
opposition. The economic problems of the country deteriorated even further, and the
government went further into debt.
After her husband’s assassination, Cory took his place as the leader of the opposition. In 1985,
Ferdinand suddenly announced an election to legitimize his hold on the country. Cory was reluctant
to run at first, but changed her mind after being presented with one million signatures urging
her to run for president.
CONTRIBUTIONS:
 first woman to be president of the Philippines or any Asian country
 restored democracy
 abolished the 1973 Marcos Constitution and ushered in the new Constitution of the
Philippines
 reorganized the structure of the executive branch of government
 signed the Family Code of 1987, a major civil law reform, and 1191 Local Government
Code, which reorganized the structure of the executive branch of government
 initiated charitable and social activities helping the poor and the needy
 named “Woman of the Year” in 1986 by Time magazine
 on the new 500-peso bill together with her husband Benigno Aquino
FIDEL V. RAMOS
Fidel V. Ramos was the chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines before he became
president. He was also a civil engineer. As president, he restored economic growth and stability
in the country, even during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. He is the first, and so far the
only, non-Catholic president of the Philippines.
Fidel Ramos was the president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. The former commander of
the national police under Marcos, and his second cousin, Ramos helped Marcos establish
martial law in 1972 but later turned his back on the dictator and supported Aquino in her fight
against Marcos in 1986.
In 1992, Fidel Ramos was chosen by Corazon Aquino as her successor and elected president in a
seven way race in which he won with only 23.8 percent for the vote. Arguably one of the Philippines
better presidents, Ramos is crediting with transforming the Philippines from a country with a
history of poverty, corruption, rebellion, ineptitude and tax evasion into an economic marvel
referred to as Asian tiger cub. One economist told Newsweek, "in three years Ramos achieved
what Taiwan and Korea took two decades to do."
Ramos kick started the economy, generated new growth and gave the poor and
disenfranchised hope. Economic growth tripled while he was in power. Ramos ended the
Philippines' frequent power outages and brownouts improved the environment, fought
corruption and reduced red tape. He was popular during the first three years of his term.
President Ramos worked at coalition building and overcoming the divisiveness of the Aquino years.
Mutinous right-wing soldiers, communist insurgents, and Muslim separatists were convinced to cease
their armed activities against the government and were granted amnesty. In an act of reconciliation,
Ramos allowed the remains of Ferdinand Marcos—he had died in exile in the United States in
1989—to be returned to the Philippines for burial in 1993. Efforts by supporters of Ramos to gain
passage of an amendment that would allow him to run for a second term were met with large-scale
protests supported by Cardinal Sin and Corazon Aquino, leading Ramos to declare he would not
run again. [Source: Library of Congress *]
Contributions and Achievements:
 oversaw Philippine economic growth
 presided over celebrations of Philippine Independence Centennial in 1998
 received British Knighthood from the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II (Knight Grand
Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George)
 hosted the fourth Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Leader's Summit in the Philippines in
1996
 Philippine Stock Exchange became an international favorite during his presidency
 death penalty reinstated while he was in office
 signed peace agreement with the rebel Moro National Liberation Front
  President Fidel Ramos (1992-1998) was given high marks for handling the economy. By
breaking apart monopolies, liberalizing foreign investment laws and privatizing business
and industries by controlled powerful families, Ramos was crediting with transforming the
Philippines from a country with a history of poverty, corruption, rebellion, foreign ineptness
and tax evasion into an economic powerhouse that was not yet an Asian tiger but was
sometimes referred to as Asian tiger cub.

Joseph Ejercito Estrada

Known as Erap, Joseph Estrada was the first president who had been a famous film actor. His
presidency was controversial. During his years in office economic growth was slow and he faced
impeachment proceedings. He was ousted from the presidency in 2001. He was later convicted
of stealing from the government but was pardoned. He ran unsuccessfully for president in
2010.
Joseph "Erap" Estrada was elected president of the Philippines in 1998 and served for 31 months
until he was ousted after the People Power II protests in January 2001. A former college dropout,
movie actor and vice president, he was known for his short and stocky physique, greasy Elvis Presley
pompadour and thin mustache. He was notorious for his womanizing, hard drinking, gambling and
less than perfect English. His nickname “Era” is a Tagalog word for “buddy: spelled backwards.
Estrada was well known as an actor in the Philippines before he entered politics. He called the
presidency “the greatest role of my life.” Even so he sometimes acted if politics was all a big joke.
Once he said, "Why do we pass all these laws when nobody seems to follow them." His trademark
was a white wristband.
Estrada has spent more than 40 yearS in politics as a mayor, senator, vice president and
president. He continued to act in movies even after he was elected mayor in 1967 of the
municipality of San Juan within metropolitan Manila, where he was known for disciplining corrupt
policemen by punching them. His biggest accomplishment as senator was passing a bill to
protect water buffalos.
Estrada won a seat in the Senate in 1987 and became the vice president under Ramos in 1992.
Popular among common people, he was initially a presidential candidate in the presidential election
but opted for the vice president race when he realized he didn't have much of chance against the
likes of Ramos. The Philippines has separate ballots for the president and Vice President. Estrada
won easily in a seven-way race.
Contributions and Achievements:
 during his presidency Moro Islamic Liberation Front headquarters and camps were captured
 joined other leaders and politicians to try to amend the 1987 Constitution
 cited as one of the Three Outstanding Senators in 1989
 among the “Magnificent 12” who voted to terminate the agreement that allows for U.S.
control of Clark Airbase and Subic Naval Base
GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the 14th, president of the Philippines (and the second female
president). The Oakwood Mutiny occurred during her term. Arroyo oversaw road and
infrastructure improvements and higher economic growth that presidents before her, but there was
also controversy. The so-called "Hello Garci" controversy involved recordings that allegedly
captured Arroyo ordering the rigging of the election that put her in office. In 2005 Arroyo faced
impeachment proceedings related to the recordings but the impeachment failed. After she had
left office Arroyo faced additional charges of election fraud and misuse of state funds.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo succeeded Estrada as president. The daughter of Diosdado
Macapagal, the president of the Philippines in the early 1960s, she was Estrada’s vice president
and became president after he was ousted in 2001. Altogether she served nine years a president,
three years of Estrada’s term (from 2001 to 2004) and six years after she was elected in 2004
(2004 to 2010).
Arroyo is very small and well-dressed and has a prominent mole on the left side of her nose. She
was often dwarfed by the foreign leaders. When she became president she was coached to smile
more, use simple sound bites and encouraged to liven up her professorial monotone. She was
sometimes called the “Queen” and despite here best attempts to be otherwise she was never truly
embraced by the Philippines’s poor. She was supported more by business leaders and the political
elite.
Arroyo was the biggest vote getter in the 1995 election for Senator (Several Philippine Senators
are elected at one time by being the top vote getters in a group of candidates). She won with
the highest number of votes in election history. While serving as a senator from 1992 to 1998,
Arroyo authored 55 bills, including legislation that promoted privatization and trade. Arroyo
was also the top vote getter when she ran as vice president. She changed parties three times,
based more on her desire to further her political career than on ideology. People who worked with
her described her disciplined, deliberate, a perfectionist, never impulsive.
Arroyo was an opposition vice president when she took that office in 1998. In the Philippines the
president and vice president are voted on and elected separately and president Joseph Estrada
was from a different party. Estrada put her in charge of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development. In that position she showed her concern for the needy by traveling to every
province, delivery food and relief supplies to the poor.
Arroyo was supported by the military, the business elite and the Catholic church. In her early
years she generally had high approval ratings. Support for Estrada remained strong in some
communities in the early years of her rule. Many viewed her an usurper who took power from an
elected official—Estrada. When she visited poor neighborhoods, where Estrada was popular, she
was greeted with chants of “ Erap pa rin” (“We are still for Erap”).
Arroyo was regarded as a hard worker and a professional. She reportedly showed up for work
at 6:00am and worked 16 hours a day, six days a week. Initially she was a welcome change from
Estrada’s gambling, womanizing and drinking binges. Arroyo promised to lift 40 percent of Filipinos
out poverty, cut the unemployment rate from 10 percent to 6 percent and eradicate corruption.
Arroyo’s initial term in office was marked by fractious coalition politics as well as a military
mutiny in Manila in July 2003 that led her to declare a month-long nationwide state of
rebellion, as a result of which charges were filed against more than 1,000 individuals. To
strengthen her power base, Arroyo embarked on a program aimed at improving the life of the
poor. Arroyo initially made a sincere effort to tackle corruption. One of her first moves as
preside was to order the sale of all luxury cars that Estrada gave senior bureaucrats. She told
her staff to live simply and said no one, not even members of her family, were above the law.
As time went on there were increasing accusations that Arroyo’s administration was corrupt
and ineffectual. Her own husband was accused of taking a $2.5 million bribe in an effort to
get him to influence his wife on a major telecom deal. Arroyo herself was accused of making
too many television appearances, lacking substance and lacking the toughness to bring about
real change.

Contributions and Achievements:

 second female president of the country
 first and only female vice-president of the Philippines so far
 first president to take oath outside Luzon
 former Economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, where current president
Benigno Aquino III was one of her students
 ex-classmate of former U.S. President Bill Clinton at Georgetown University’s Walsh School
of Foreign Service, where she maintained Dean’s list status
 oversaw higher economic growth than the past three presidents before her
 peso became the best-performing currency of the year in Asia in 2007
 eVAT Law was implemented under her term
 currently on the 200-peso bill