Corazon Aquino gave a historic speech before the U.S. Congress in 1986, shortly after becoming president of the Philippines following the overthrow of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. In her speech, she appealed for economic assistance from the U.S. to address challenges like a $26 billion debt and a communist insurgency. She vowed to pay off debts incurred by Marcos despite the hardship it would cause, and defended her reconciliatory approach to the insurgency. The speech was met with multiple standing ovations from Congress and helped sway support for emergency aid to the Philippines. The document provides historical context on Aquino's rise to power including the assassination of her husband and political opponent of Marcos

2. Corazon Aquino
Speech before the
joint session of the
United States
Congress - Sept.
18, 1986

3. I. Analysis on the
speech of
Corazon Aquino

4. Historical Background of
the Document
When former President
Corazon Aquino spoke
before a joint session
of the United States
Congress in September of
1986, the dust was only

5. It was her first visit to
America since the dictator
Ferdinand Marcos had
been deposed in February
of the same year, and the
Philippines was reckoning
with everything his
administration had

6. That included $26 billion
in total foreign debt, and
a communist insurgency
that grew, throughout
the Marcos era, from
500 armed guerillas to
16,000. We were just at
the start of a long road to

7. So Aquino lodged an
appeal for help.
Addressing the House,
she delivered a historic
speech that managed to
sway in our favor the
vote for an emergency

8. In the moving speech penned by
her speech writer (and our
current ambassador to the
United Nations) Teddy
Locsin, Jr., Aquino defended
her reconciliatory stand on the
communist insurgency—a
sensitive issue in the U.S., given
that this was 1986—and

9. "We fought for honor, and, if
only for honor, we shall pay,"
she said, agreeing to pay the
debt that was stolen by
Marcos. "And yet, should we
have to wring the payments
from the sweats of our men’s
faces and sink all the wealth
piled up by the bondsman’s

10. The speech was impassioned,
deeply personal, and effective;
interrupted 11 times by
applause and book ended with
standing ovations. House
Speaker Tip O'Neill called it the
"finest speech I've ever heard in
my 34 years in Congress."
Senate Majority Leader Robert

11. And House Minority
Whip Trent Lott said,
"Let's just say the
emotion of the moment
saved the day." It would
go down in the annals
of our history as one of
the former President's
finest speeches.

12. II. Content and
analysis of the
important historical
information found
in the document

13. On September 22, 1972,
opposition Senator Benigno
Aquino Jr. Together with
Senators, publishers, and
anyone who had spoken up for
the democracy was arrested at
the Manila Hilton Hotel in
Ermita, Manila by elements
of the Philippine Constabulary-
Metropolitan Command (PC-

14. This arrest happened a
day after President
Ferdinand E. Marcos
signed Proclamation
Number 1081
declaring the entire
Philippines under
Martial Law. This was

15. This was the second time
they’ve lost him. On August
27, 1973, Ninoy was brought
back to Fort Bonifacio where
he faced a Military Tribunal on
charges of murder, illegal
possession of firearms, and
subversion. They locked him
up in a tiny, nearly airless cell

16. They stripped him naked
and held a threat of a
sudden midnight
execution over his head.
Ninoy held up manfully
under all of it. For forty-
three days, the
authorities would not tell

17. On August 13, 1983, Aquino
began a meandering, week-
long flight that took him from
Boston to Los Angeles and
through Singapore, Hong
Kong, and Taiwan. Because
Marcos had cut off diplomatic
relations with Taiwan, the
government there was under
no obligation to cooperate

18. As China Airlines Flight 811
descended into Manila
International Airport on August 21,
1983, Aquino warned the foreign
journalists traveling with him to
have their cameras ready. "In a
matter of three or four minutes it
could all be over," he noted with
chilling prescience. Minutes after
the plane touched down, Aquino

19. “Still, we fought for honor,
and if only for honor, we
shall pay.” She
emphasized that the fight
they started was not
wasted and it was not a
nonsense one. That they,
the Filipinos put up a good

20. May 1984, new elections for
parliament took place and
opposition parties claimed 58
of the 183 available seats
even though there were large
allegations of election fraud.
Corazon had publicly
endorsed all of the

21. Marcos recently called
for 'snap,' or early,
presidential elections
amid sharp domestic
and U.S. criticism
over his handling of
a growing communist
insurgency and a severe

22. Corazon Aquino,
despite a lack of
political experience,
said she would
consider running
against Marcos if 1
million signatures had

23. Former newspaper
publisher Joaquin
Roces, 72, said his
group had collected
1,005,882 signatures
as of 6:35 p.m.
Monday in support

24. The ultimate result
was the election of
Mrs. Corazon Aquino
as President and Mr.
Salvador Laurel as
Vice-President of the

25. And yet, despite all these
serious challenges, not once did
Aquino consider declaring martial
law. Her stubborn adherence to
the democratic process is all the
more notable when one recalls that
even as she was fighting off military
rebels, she was also dealing with a
fractious Cabinet, long-standing
domestic rebellions and pernicious
problems like a bankrupt

26. In March 1986 Aquino
proclaimed a
provisional
constitution and soon
thereafter appointed
a commission to

27. She failed to
undertake fundamental
economic or social
reforms, and her
popularity steadily
declined as she faced
continual outcries over

28. These problems
were exacerbated by
persistent warfare
between the
communist
insurgency and a
military whose

29. In general, her economic policies
were criticized for being mixed or
faltering in the face of mass
poverty. Aquino was succeeded
in office by her former defense
secretary, Fidel Ramos. The
ratification of the new
Constitution was followed by
the election of senators and
congress that same year and the

30. President Aquino and President
Reagan discussed her
strenuous efforts to bolster the
democratic institutions of her
country and to insure its
security and strengthen its
economy. And he assured her
that all America wants the
Philippine democracy to

31. Most of the money went to buy
the 1986 snap election. On top
of that, we have been left with
a staggering foreign debt of
$26 billion and nothing to
show for it except some
remarkable architecture in
New York. Half of our much
needed export revenues are

32. It is stated also that
Filipinos face a communist
insurgency that feeds on
economic deterioration, even
though they carry a great
share of the free world
defenses in the Pacific. These
are only two of the many
burdens the people carry even

33. Half the export earnings,
$2 billion out of $4 billion,
which was all they could
earn in the restrictive
markets of the world, went
to pay just the interest on a
debt whose benefit the
Filipino people never

34. Cory Aquino was
devastated and
sad about the
situation of the
country; about two
decades of social
and political

35. III. Contribution
and relevance of
the document
understanding the
grand narrative of
Philippine History

36. The speech of the former
President Corazon Aquino
gives us the insights on how
Filipinos struggled to attain
freedom and between the
insisted resistance from the
past have inspired Filipino
revolutionaries in our current
era. It also gives clarification

37. The document describe
the struggles faced by the
Aquino’s to help the
Philippines achieve
freedom. The document
also mentioned about the
debt incurred by the
former government

38. This speech also
shows how the
dictatorship transforms
into democratic
government. From its
president down to its laws,
order, and rules. The
document also mentioned
the killing of Ninoy Aquino

39. It shows the problem
faced by Cory Aquino as
soon as she became the
President. For instance
the poverty and
unemployment. The
document mentioned two
elections occurred after

40. His wife participated
during the election and
lose in the first election.
During the second which
is snap election, she
became the president
and declares democracy

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