Filipino icon 'Cory' Aquino dies at 76

MANILA, Philippines -- Corazon C. Aquino, 76, the unassuming housewife who toppled a dictator and restored democracy to the Philippines as its 11th president, died of heart failure early today.

She was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2008 and admitted to a hospital in June after she stopped eating.

An elegant icon of democracy, Aquino served six turbulent years as president of the Philippines after leading hundreds of thousands in a "people power" revolution that brought down the corrupt regime of strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos in February 1986. Aquino presided over free elections, appointed an independent judiciary, encouraged a free press and restored other democratic institutions gutted by Marcos during his 20-year rule.

A reluctant leader at a time of national crisis, Aquino left a mixed legacy. Her government was beset by bloody coup attempts by right-wing military officers and Marcos loyalists. Challenged by communist rebels, terrorists and Muslim secessionists, along with government scandals, her administration lurched from crisis to crisis.

Aquino appeared to dislike her job and literally counted the days until she left office. But she did fulfill a key promise: She presided over the first peaceful transfer of power in her country in more than 26 years.

She married journalist Benigno "Ninoy" S. Aquino Jr. in 1954. After Marcos' election in 1965, Benigno Aquino opposed the president's growing power, which led to his imprisonment at the start of Marcos' martial law period in 1972. He was released under international pressure in 1980 and allowed to move to Newton, Mass., for a heart bypass operation. But in August 1983, her husband returned to Manila and was gunned down at the airport by soldiers.

Corazon Aquino returned to the Philippines to lead an impassioned throng of supporters in a lengthy funeral march that became a unifying symbol. When she registered to run against Marcos after he called a snap election for Feb. 7, 1986, Aquino listed her occupation as "housewife." Ridiculed by Marcos for her lack of experience, she replied: "It is true. I have no experience in lying, cheating, stealing and killing."