Corazon “Cory” Aquino: Global Servant-Leader

November 26, 2004 Manila, the Philippines Ferch: Thank you, President Aquino, for this interview. What happened to make you the leader of the Philippines? Aquino: Well, circumstances prevailed. First my husband was assassinated. And then, of course, we had been living under a dictatorship. And at that time, I was never considering myself as a presidential candidate. But as the opposition, I suppose, looked around and searched for the best possible candidate against a dictator, a number of them were convinced that it had to be somebody the opposite of Marcos-if possible, the complete opposite of Marcos. So I suppose they thought of me because, first, I’m a woman, he’s a man. I’ve never been a politician, although I have been a politician’s wife. I had never voted for Marcos. And the fact that he had incarcerated my husband-of course, we were against his dictatorship. And we were, both my husband and I, working towards the restoration of democracy So circumstances perhaps required that the opposition present somebody who would be the opposite of Marcos, and in addition to that, somebody who could unite the opposition. And it was the perception that I would be the candidate that could best unite the opposition. The fact that a number of the politicians who had presidential ambitions had indicated to me that they would give way only to me was perhaps a sign that a number of them could be united if I were the candidate.