not been involved in politics before her husband , opposition leader Benigno `` Ninoy '' Aquino Jr. , was gunned down at Manila 's airport in August 1983 as he returned from exile . The political novice took over the leadership of her husband 's movement after his death and challenged Marcos in a 1986 election , making a yellow dress her trademark and bolstered by the support of the country 's Roman Catholic churches . Marcos had been backed by the United States , the former colonial power in the Philippines , for two decades as a stalwart anti-communist . He and his wife Imelda were friends of then-President Ronald Reagan and his wife , Nancy . But widespread allegations of electoral fraud and a mutiny by the country 's military led the Reagan administration to withdraw its support , and Marcos went into exile in Hawaii . Aquino took office in a country with a $ 28 billion debt , widespread poverty and a persistent Marxist insurgency . She put in place a U.S.-style constitution that limited presidents to a single six-year term and survived seven coup attempts -- including one that was supressed with American help .
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino , whose `` People Power '' movement pushed out longtime strongman Ferdinand Marcos less than three years after her husband 's assassination , has died at age 76 , her family announced Saturday . `` She was the agent of change in Philippine democracy , '' said Ray Donato , the nation 's consul-general in Atlanta . Aquino , the first woman to lead the Philippines , had been battling colon cancer since March 2008 and died of cardio-respiratory arrest at 3:18 a.m. Saturday -LRB- 3:18 p.m. Friday ET -RRB- , said Mai Mislang , a spokeswoman for her son , Philippine Sen. Benigno Aquino III . Funeral arrangements were being set up , Mislang said . Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has also announced a 10-day mourning period for the former president , said Ray Donato , the country 's consul-general in Atlanta . `` She was the agent of change in Philippine democracy , and almost all the Filipinos I know revered her during her presidency , '' Donato said . Aquino had been born into a wealthy family and was educated in the United States . She had