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VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday hailed former Philippine president Corazon Aquino as a “woman of deep and unwavering faith” after her death from colon cancer. The head of the Roman Catholic Church was "deeply saddened" by the death of Aquino, who led a movement to restore democracy to the country in 1986, the Vatican said. Benedict praised the former leader of the Catholic nation for her “courageous commitment to the freedom of the Filipino people” and “her firm rejection of violence and intolerance” Her efforts were a vital “contribution to the rebuilding of a just and cohesive...

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino has passed away. She was 76. Her son Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III confirmed that she died of cardio-respiratory arrest at exactly 3:18 a.m. Saturday at the Makati Medical Center. Mrs. Aquino has been diagnosed with colon cancer early in 2008 and has been confined at the Makati Medical Center for more than a month. Mrs. Aquino, widow of Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., will be remembered as an icon of democracy, having led a military-backed popular revolt in 1986 that ousted a dictator who ruled the country for 20 years. At about...

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. 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 (3:18 p.m. Friday ET), said Mai Mislang, a spokeswoman for her son, Philippine Sen. Benigno Aquino III. Funeral arrangments were being set up, Mislang said. And Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has announced a 10-day mourning period for the former president, said Ray...

Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino has died at the age of 76, her family has said. She had been suffering from colon cancer for more than a year and recently announced she was refusing further treatment. Her family had said she was leaving her fate to God, prompting church services offering prayers for her health. Mrs Aquino became president when the 1986 "people power" uprising deposed former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. "Our mother peacefully passed away at 0318 [1918 GMT Friday] of cardio-respiratory arrest," Mrs Aquino's son, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr, told the media. "She would have wanted us to thank...