MANILA (Reuters) - Former President Corazon Aquino, whose "people power" revolution swept dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines, died on Saturday after a 16-month battle against colon cancer, her family said. She was 76.
Aquino was diagnosed with the disease in March 2008 but kept up public appearances this year. A devout Catholic, she was a regular at weekend mass until shortly before being admitted to hospital in late June.
"Our mother peacefully passed away at 3:18 a.m. (1918 GMT Friday) of cardio-respiratory arrest," her son, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., told reporters in Manila.
Aquino, known as Cory to millions of Filipinos, was president from 1986 to 1992 and will be best remembered as the slim woman in yellow who deposed Marcos in 1986.
The tumultuous events of those weeks reached a crescendo when up to 1 million people waving rosaries and flowers stopped tanks advancing toward Aquino-backed army rebels.
When a bewildered Marcos and his wife Imelda fled the country, it set a precedent for dissidents from South Africa to South America and Pakistan. Aquino was hailed by many as a modern-day Joan of Arc.
"She would have wanted us to thank each and every one of you for all the prayers and your continuous love and support. It was her wish for all of us to pray for one another and for our country," Aquino Jr said.
Cory was a reluctant leader. She shed the housewife's apron only after her politician husband, opposition leader Benigno, was assassinated at Manila's international airport in 1983 on his return from exile in the United States.
Accusing Marcos of ordering the murder, Aquino led protest marches but hesitated when an election was called in 1986.
"What on earth do I know about being president?," she said before taking up the challenge to run against Marcos.
Inevitably, her presidency was less successful than the revolution, with a series of coup attempts by the military keeping the administration hamstrung.
Aquino was lauded for her courage but the spectre of army intervention haunted her entire rule. Natural disasters, including Mount Pinatubo's huge volcanic eruption in 1991, severely battered the economy.
TURNED TO FAITH
Aquino often turned to her faith to steer her through difficult times.
"There was never any moment that I doubted God would help ... If it was time to die, so be it," she said when rebel mortars pounded the presidential palace in 1987.
"I have not always won but ... I never shirked a fight," she said in 1992 before handing power over to her successor, former defence minister Fidel Ramos. Continued...
Corazon Aquino, 1933 - 2009
Corazon Aquino, the 11th president of the Philippines, has died today at Makati Medical Center of complications from colon cancer. She was 76. She had been in the hospital since June. She was the first female president of the Philippines and Asia's first female President.

She was born María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco on January 25, 1933 in Paniqui, Tarlac, Philippines. She was the widow of Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., a leading figure in the political opposition against the autocratic rule of Dictator Ferdinand Marcos. After her husband was assassinated upon his return from exile on August 21, 1983, Aquino, who had no prior political experience, became a focal point and unifying force of the opposition against Marcos.

In the 1992 Philippine elections, though eligible to run for a second term, Aquino backed her then Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos, Marcos' armed forces vice-chief of staff whose defection to the Aquino party proved crucial to the popular revolution. Ramos narrowly won with just 23.58 percent of the vote, and succeeded Aquino as president on June 30, 1992.

Funeral services will commence on Wednesday at 9 A.M. at Manila Cathedral.