title: Shaun of the Dead

text: Multiple chapters of the 2016 book "The Laughing Dead: The Horror-Comedy Film from Bride of Frankenstein to Zombieland" are devoted to analysing aspects of "Shaun of the Dead". Steven Webley's chapter looks at the use of the Uncanny in the film, while Shelley S. Rees' chapter discusses the film's Marxist implications and the transgressive nature of zombies and zombie films in terms of relationships and sexuality. Comparatively, Kathryn A. Cady and Thomas Oates write in their article 'Family Splatters: Rescuing Heteronormativity from the Zombie Apocalypse' that the film "imagines a single-generation heteronormative family as the outcome of zombie invasion".


title: Shaun of the Dead

text: Beyond film studies, a Bayesian mathematical model using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods was performed on examples of epidemic progression by Caitlyn Witkowski and Brian Blais in 2013. As an example of how such modelling could be applied to infectious disease control, Witkowski and Blais took examples of zombie apocalypses in Romero's original "Dead" trilogy and "Shaun of the Dead" to demonstrate disease dynamics.


title: Shaun of the Dead

text: "Shaun of the Dead" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 92%, based on 213 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Shaun of the Dead" cleverly balances scares and witty satire, making for a bloody good zombie movie with loads of wit". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Nev Pierce, reviewing the film for the BBC, called it a "side-splitting, head-smashing, gloriously gory horror comedy" that will "amuse casual viewers and delight genre fans". Peter Bradshaw gave it four stars out of five, saying it "boasts a script crammed with real gags" and is "pacily directed [and] nicely acted". Wendy Ide for Screen Daily wrote that the film "proves that the move from small to big screen comedy does not always end in artistic failure", saying that the film stays true to Pegg and Wright's style but also makes use of comedy more accessible to the British masses than that of "Spaced".


title: Shaun of the Dead

text: Pierce felt that the choice of weapons was amusing, and suggested that the film's real strength was the characterisation of the unhappy leads, but also wrote that the climax at the pub was lacking in horror and comedy compared to the rest of the film. Like Pierce, Ide felt that there is "a convincing emotional depth" despite the comedy; she similarly noted that the second half was slower, but chalked this up to being darker in tone at the climax. She praised the special effects make-up and prosthetics created by Stuart Conran. Keith Phipps of "The A.V. Club" enjoyed the record-throwing scene, citing it as an example of where the film "doesn't mind putting in extra work for its laughs", as it comes off funnier with Shaun and Ed debating which records they sacrifice rather than throwing indiscriminately. He found Wright's technical skills to be impressive, adding that Wright left the spotlight to the performances rather than the camerawork, but found the finale to be disappointingly played straight.


title: Shaun of the Dead

text: Both the American critics Roger Ebert and Robert K. Elder said that the film brought something more to the zombie genre. Ebert wrote that he was "by now more or less exhausted by the cinematic possibilities of killing [zombies]", and so he was glad for what "Shaun of the Dead" brought to the table outside of this, writing that "instead of focusing on the Undead and trying to get the laughs there, it treats the living characters as sitcom regulars whose conflicts and arguments keep getting interrupted by annoying flesh-eaters". Elder agreed that by its release the zombie movie had "ambled its course", but thought that ""Shaun of the Dead" stands on its own, a romantic comedy crossed with a quarter-life crisis drama–just played against a background horde of brain-hungry, decomposing undead". B. Alan Orange of MovieWeb wrote that "The British Zombie experience "is" different enough to change the outlook of a whole genre".


title: Shaun of the Dead

text: Of the cast, Ebert particularly praised Nighy, writing that "there's something endearing about his response ["I ran it under the tap"] when he is bitten by a zombie". Elder described Nighy as the film's scene stealer.


title: Shaun of the Dead

text: Peter Travers also gave the film three out of four stars, and praised Pegg: "[he] makes you root for Shaun, even when he’s slacking with Ed [...], neglecting Liz and battling with his mum". Phipps' take on Shaun was that "Pegg gives his hero a defeated look that slowly melts away as the crisis at last gives him a chance to become a man of action".


title: Shaun of the Dead

text: In 2004, "Total Film" magazine named "Shaun of the Dead" the 49th greatest British film of all time. In 2006, it was rated as the third greatest comedy film of all time in the Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films, with only "Monty Python's Life of Brian" and "Airplane!" ranked higher. In 2007, "Stylus Magazine" named it the ninth-greatest zombie film ever made. In 2007, "Time" named it one of the 25 best horror films, calling the film "spooky, silly and smart-smart-smart" and complimenting its director: "Wright, who'd be a director to watch in any genre, plays world-class games with the camera and the viewer's expectations of what's supposed to happen in a scare film". Bloody Disgusting ranked the film second in their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade', with the article saying ""Shaun of the Dead" isn't just the best horror-comedy of the decade – it's quite possibly the best horror-comedy ever made". In December 2009, "Now" deemed "Shaun of the Dead" the best film of the decade. In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their second favourite film of all time. Frank Darabont's "The Shawshank Redemption" came in first place. In 2008, "Empire" magazine named it as one of the Top 500 films, for which a new release poster was made for the film, and in 2016 "Empire" ranked it 6th on their list of the 100 best British films, with their entry stating, "it's a masterpiece, right up there with "Evil Dead II" as one of the finest horror/comedies ever made".


title: Shaun of the Dead

text: George A. Romero first saw the film after Wright called to ask him what he thought; he watched it in a cinema in Florida by himself, and called them to give his approval. He was so impressed with Pegg and Wright's work that he asked them to appear in cameo roles in the 2005 film "Land of the Dead". Pegg and Wright insisted on being zombies rather than the slightly more noticeable roles that were originally offered. Pegg and Frost reprised their roles (in animation) in the "Phineas and Ferb" Halloween special "Night of the Living Pharmacists" in October 2014. Quentin Tarantino described the film as one of his top twenty favourite films made since 1992, and horror novelist Stephen King described it as "a '10' on the fun meter and destined to be a cult classic". It has a cult following, generally among "millennial comedy and horror lovers alike".


title: Keenen Ivory Wayans

text: Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans (born June 8, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers. Wayans first came to prominence as the host and the creator of the 1990–1994 Fox sketch comedy series "In Living Color". He has produced, directed and/or written several films, starting with "Hollywood Shuffle", which he cowrote, in 1987.


title: Keenen Ivory Wayans

text: One of these films, "Scary Movie" (2000), which Wayans directed, was the highest-grossing movie directed by an African American until it was surpassed by Tim Story's "Fantastic Four" in 2005. From 1997 to 1998, he hosted the talk show "The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show". Most recently, he was a judge for the eighth season of "Last Comic Standing".


title: Keenen Ivory Wayans

text: Wayans was born in Harlem, New York City, son of Howell Stouten Wayans, a supermarket manager, and his wife Elvira Alethia (Green), a homemaker and social worker. He was born the second of ten children. Genealogical TV show "Finding Your Roots" revealed that his paternal line traced back to Madagascar. His father was a devout Jehovah's Witness. The family later moved to Manhattan's Fulton housing projects, where he primarily grew up. He attended Seward Park High School during his teenage years, and attended Tuskegee University on an engineering scholarship. He entertained his friends at college with made-up stories about life in New York. One semester before graduation, he dropped out of school to focus on comedy.


title: Keenen Ivory Wayans

text: During his first set performing at The Improv in New York, Wayans met Robert Townsend, who helped him learn about the comedy business. Townsend and Wayans drove cross country to Los Angeles together when Wayans moved to Los Angeles in 1980. Wayans worked there as an actor. He had a regular role as a soldier on a television series titled "For Love and Honor". He also appeared on "Hill Street Blues" as a famous NFL linebacker.


title: Keenen Ivory Wayans

text: Townsend wrote, directed, and starred in the movie "Hollywood Shuffle"; Wayans was costar and cowriter. The movie's success allowed him to raise the money to make "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka". Fox Broadcasting Company approached Wayans to offer him his own show. Wayans wanted to produce a variety show similar to "Saturday Night Live", with a cast of people of color that took chances with its content.


title: Keenen Ivory Wayans

text: Fox gave Wayans a lot of freedom with the show, although Fox executives were a bit concerned about the show's content before its television debut. Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the show, titled "In Living Color", a sketch comedy television series that originally ran on the Fox Network from 1990 to 1994.


title: Keenen Ivory Wayans

text: Wayans is a vegetarian, and has promoted the diet in a public service announcement of 2006 for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The Umbrella Academy is an American comic book series created and written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. The first six-issue limited series, "," was released by Dark Horse Comics between September 14, 2007, and February 20, 2008. It won the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Finite Series/Limited Series. A second series, "", followed in 2008. After a hiatus the series returned in 2018 with "" released between October 3, 2018, and June 12, 2019.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: A television adaptation premiered on Netflix in February 2019. In 2019, Dark Horse Comics signed a collaboration with Studio71 to make a card game based on "The Umbrella Academy".


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The titular team of "The Umbrella Academy" is described as a "dysfunctional family of superheroes". In the mid-20th century, at the instant of the finishing blow in a cosmic wrestling match, 43 superpowered infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy at the start of the day. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a.k.a. The Monocle, an extraterrestrial disguised as a famous entrepreneur, adopts seven of the children and prepares them to save the world from an unspecified threat as the Umbrella Academy. In "Apocalypse Suite", the team disbands and falls out of contact until they meet on the news of Hargreeves's death, and subsequently reunite when one of their own numbers becomes a supervillain.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The Academy is led by The Monocle (Sir Reginald Hargreeves), an alien disguised as a wealthy entrepreneur and world-renowned scientist. He adopts 7 of the 43 babies born that day who become the members of The Umbrella Academy, namely, Spaceboy (Luther Hargreeves), The Kraken (Diego Hargreeves), The Rumor (Allison Hargreeves), The Séance (Klaus Hargreeves), The Boy (Number Five), The Horror (Ben Hargreeves), and The White Violin (Vanya Hargreeves).


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: Way has stated that the biggest influence on this piece of work is his favorite writer, Grant Morrison and their work on "Doom Patrol" with DC Comics. He has also stated that Pat McEown of "ZombieWorld: Champion of the Worms" was a big influence on his work. Way has said that Edvin Biuković is his all-time favorite artist and that "his "Grendel Tales" are like my bible to draw from".


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The Umbrella Academy is a team of superpowered children who fight evil for much of their childhoods under the tutelage of their guardian and mentor, Dr. Reginald Hargreeves. But the team breaks up, and nine years later, the estranged members are reunited by the death of the only parental figure they've ever known, and the rise of a new and terrible threat.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The Umbrella Academy faces a number of catastrophic events and the death of a close ally. When a new threat emerges concerning a cabal of assassins, it is up to the Academy to combat the threat, but each member is distracted with their own problems.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: In 2009, Gerard Way revealed the title of the third series entitled "The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion". It was hinted that this could be the return of Dr. Terminal, as referenced by Spaceboy saying "no one could escape from the Hotel" (in issue No 3). Dark Horse originally announced "Hotel Oblivion" to be released sometime during 2010, but this did not transpire.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: Gerard Way commented about the uncertainty of "The Umbrella Academy"'s future, stating that it would be a "really long time" before a release of "Hotel Oblivion", as he planned to move away from comics "indefinitely" once the "Killjoys" series is complete, to focus his attention on his musical career. Way expressed to return to the comics "when it's right". Later in December 2013 Way confirmed that he and Gabriel Bá were to work on both "Hotel Oblivion" and the fourth installment of "The Umbrella Academy" during 2014.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: Dark Horse finally released "Hotel Oblivion" in 2018, with Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá returning. The first issue of "Hotel Oblivion" was released on October 3 the same year and the series ended with issue #7 on June 12, 2019. The series was released in full with additional material on September 17 in the same year.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: In July 2020, Gerard Way revealed that Vol. 4 would be titled "The Umbrella Academy: Sparrow Academy". While this story has not yet been released in print, it is the main plot line in season three of the show.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: A first short preview story of the series was released on November 2, 2006, on the Dark Horse Comics website. The first printed story was "…But the Past Ain’t Through With You", which appeared in the 2007 Dark Horse Comics Free Comic Book Day issue. Another story, "Safe & Sound", was published in July 2007 in "Dark Horse Presents" online on MySpace.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: An Internet preview was released on November 2, 2006, on the Dark Horse website. The story was colored by Dan Jackson and lettered by Jason Hvam. It is included in the "Apocalypse Suite" collection. The story is only two pages long and contains two main characters, The Séance, appearing as an adult, and Number Five. A time-travel machine causes the Séance to briefly experience life as a Medieval French military commander.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The first printed story of the series, the title is a line from the B-side track "Kill All Your Friends" by Way's band, My Chemical Romance ("And you can sleep in a coffin, but the past ain't through with you"). "…But the Past Ain’t Through with You", appeared in the 2007 Dark Horse Comics Free Comic Book Day issue, released on May 5. It is included in the "Apocalypse Suite" collection. The comic book also features the début of "Pantheon City" written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Clément Sauvé and "Zero Killer" written by Arvid Nelson and illustrated by Matt Camp.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The story begins with Spaceboy, The Rumour, and The Séance finding The Rumour's body in an alley. The killer seems to be the 'Murder Magician' and his Assistant, who has hypnotized everyone at a talk show. The villains are defeated and the secret is uncovered. The Rumour had been sneaking out to meet up with a juggler and lying about going to the library. Her powers created a double that went to the library; this one was taken and slain. It's revealed the Monocle worked with the Magician to kill the copy to teach Rumour 'a lesson'. At the bottom of the final page, it states "... Some of the characters you have enjoyed today may or may not be living and/or dead by the next episode", hinting that The Horror dies soon after.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: “Safe & Sound" is an eight-page story published in the first issue of the second volume of "Dark Horse Presents" in July 2007. The second volume of "Dark Horse Presents" (an anthology comic book, which was the first comic ever published by Dark Horse) appears monthly exclusively online on the social networking website MySpace for free. The title comes from a song Gerard Way worked on with Japanese rock singer Kyosuke Himuro for the movie "Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete". The comic book also features stories for the series "Sugarshock!", written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by Fábio Moon (Gabriel Bá's twin brother) and "", written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Luke Ross.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The story begins with The Kraken on top of a moving car occupied by criminals. The credits on the page say "Safe & Sound / featuring The Kraken / Formerly of the Umbrella Academy". The cars occupants, a driver, a man in the passenger seat with a Tommy gun, a Romani fortune teller in the back seat, and a little girl in the back seat are all aware that The Kraken is on top of the vehicle. After The Kraken stabs the top of the car, the fortune teller, who is holding a green crystal ball, orders the man in the front to shoot The Kraken, who manages to escape injury. When the girl in the back says that she wants to go home, the fortune teller tells her she can as soon as her father pays the ransom. The Kraken punches the man with the gun through the window, prompting the fortune teller to order the driver to slam the brakes. The Kraken and the man with the gun are ejected from the car, the latter going through the windshield. The driver then indiscriminately shoots at the clothing store with the Tommy gun. The Kraken emerges on top of the car (behind the fortune teller) and demands the release of the girl. She pulls out another cartomancy card with 'devil'. The driver shoots at The Kraken, who jumps towards him and punches him. The knocked-out man falls to the ground. The fortuneteller, still defiant, tells The Kraken not to produce his blade or else she will drop the green crystal ball, which she claims holds the life of the girl she is holding hostage. She claims that if it drops the girl will die. The Kraken throws his knife at the fortune teller's shoulder and she drops the crystal ball, which shatters on the ground. The fortune teller is shocked to see that the girl is still alive and is surprised by a punch delivered by The Kraken. The next scene shows the fortune teller being arrested who is hysterically saying that the girl should have died. Inspector Lupo (a character similar to Commissioner Gordon of Batman) thanks The Kraken for saving the mayor's daughter. The Kraken reaches into the back seat of the fortune teller's car and produces a crystal ball, identical to the one that was destroyed. He hands it in to the Inspector and tells him that it's "Something important. Take care of it".


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: Dark Horse released the eight-page short story on their MySpace, and is also included in the "Dallas" collections and the "MySpace Dark Horse Presents Volume 2" in 2009, collecting the online stories from "MySpace Dark Horse Presents" #7–12.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The story takes place thirteen years ago, during the group's teenage years. The Monocle is giving a long and boring speech to Diego (The Kraken) and Vanya (The White Violin), who are in a punk rock band called Prime 8's, in which Vanya plays the guitar, Diego plays the bass guitar, and an ape called "Body" plays the drums. The Monocle dislikes the band's music and the name of their debut album "I Don't Wanna Kill the President", saying that this gives The Academy bad publicity. He gives Vanya a plane ticket to Paris, where she is supposed to study "real" music (classical), however, he is simply trying to separate Vanya from Diego. In his room, Diego convinces Vanya to play one last gig that night at a bar, and then with the money they would earn, they could run away from the Umbrella Academy to tour with the band. They agree to meet at the gig that night. At the bar, people are screaming to hear the Prime 8's, but Diego hasn't shown up yet. The owner of the bar demands to see the band playing at that moment or he'll send another band on, so Body decides to quit the band and say goodbye to Vanya. Vanya, upset at being let down by Diego, is walking down the street and passes by a shop selling TVs. The news is shown about a gang arrested by The Umbrella Academy, which they did with the help of Diego. Vanya walks away and gets into a taxi. The driver asks, "Going somewhere important?" Vanya answers, "Yeah, anywhere but here".


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: A spin-off series titled "Tales from the Umbrella Academy" was launched with a one-shot issue "Hazel and Cha-Cha Save Christmas" written by Gerard Way and Scott Allie with art by Tommy Lee Edwards on November 20, 2019. Dark Horse released a six-issue miniseries, "You Look Like Death", written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon with art by I.N.J. Culbard. The first issue was released on September 16, 2020 and the miniseries ended on February 24, 2021.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: "The Umbrella Academy" is collected in trade paperbacks and limited edition hardcovers. The hardcover editions have larger pages and a few more extra features.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: A film version of "The Umbrella Academy" was optioned by Universal Studios, but never produced. "The Umbrella Academy" was instead developed into a television series rather than the original film, produced by Universal Cable Productions. Netflix had greenlit a live-action series adaptation of "The Umbrella Academy" in 2017, which premiered on February 15, 2019, with Steve Blackman serving as showrunner, and Way as an executive producer. The first season adapted the "Apocalypse Suite" storyline from the comics, focusing on a time-displaced Number Five traveling from the future to warn his siblings of the impending apocalypse.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: The series was renewed for a second season, which was released on July 31, 2020. The second season focuses on the Umbrella Academy being sent back to the early 60's but each being separated and living new lives that lead up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The series was renewed for a third season, premiering June 22, 2022. The third season focused on the Umbrella Academy trying to stop a paradox created by them arriving in an alternate timeline, along with a new group of superheroes called the Sparrows.


title: The Umbrella Academy

text: In June 2019, Dark Horse Comics announced a collaboration with Studio71 to make a card game based on "The Umbrella Academy".


title: Fredrik Neij

text: Hans Fredrik Lennart Neij (born 27 April 1978), alias TiAMO, is the co-founder of The Pirate Bay, and the Swedish Internet service provider and web hosting company PRQ. Neij was one of the defendants in The Pirate Bay Trial which began on 16 February 2009. He and other operators of The Pirate Bay were charged with assisting users in copyright infringing practices. His time during the aforementioned trial has been captured in the documentary film TPB AFK by Simon Klose.


title: Fredrik Neij

text: On 17 April 2009, Neij was found guilty. He was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay damages of $905,000.


title: Fredrik Neij

text: In November 2014, Neij was arrested in Nong Khai on an Interpol warrant while attempting to cross the border from Laos to Thailand. Thai authorities stated that a US-based film association had a Thai lawyer search for Neij and aid in his capture. During his three years in Laos, he had reportedly crossed the border almost 30 times into Thailand, where he had a home on the resort island of Phuket. BayFiles, a Pirate Bay-affiliated file hosting website registered under Neij's name, was abruptly shut down after the arrest.


title: Fredrik Neij

text: Neij served two-thirds (200 days) of a 10-month sentence in Skänninge Prison in central Sweden. He was released on 1 June 2015 and is planning to settle in Laos and work in IT.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Alien Resurrection is a 1997 American science fiction horror film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the "Alien" franchise, and was filmed at the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles, California.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Set 200 years after the preceding installment, "Alien 3" (1992), Ellen Ripley is cloned, and an Alien queen is surgically removed from her body. The United Systems Military (USM) hopes to breed Aliens to study and research on the spaceship USM "Auriga", using human hosts abducted and delivered to them by a group of mercenaries. The Aliens escape their enclosures, and Ripley and the mercenaries attempt to escape and destroy the "Auriga" before it reaches Earth. Additional roles are played by Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya, J. E. Freeman, Brad Dourif, and Michael Wincott.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: "Alien Resurrection" had its premiere in Paris on November 6, 1997, and was released to the public on November 12. It grossed US$47.8 million in the United States and Canada, the least successful of the "Alien" series in that market. It grossed $161 million worldwide. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the screenplay whilst praising Weaver's performance and the direction. The film was nominated for six Saturn Awards, including Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actress for Weaver, Best Supporting Actress for Ryder, and Best Direction for Jeunet.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: A sequel to "Resurrection" was planned, as Joss Whedon had written an Earth-set script for "Alien 5". Sigourney Weaver was not interested in this setting, but has remained open to reprising her role as Ellen Ripley for a fifth installment, on the condition that she likes the story. More sequels were planned to follow "Resurrection", but were ultimately abandoned as the crossover series arrived with the 2004 film "Alien vs. Predator", along with the prequel series including the 2012 film "Prometheus". The storylines of "Resurrection" have been continued in the comic series "Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator", and books "" and "Alien: Sea of Sorrows".


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Two hundred years after the events of "Alien 3", military scientists on the space vessel USM "Auriga" create a clone of Ellen Ripley, designated Ripley 8, using DNA from blood samples taken before her death. The Xenomorph queen's DNA has been combined with Ripley's, so the clone grows up with an embryo inside it. The scientists extract the embryo, raise it, and collect its eggs while keeping Ripley 8 alive for further study. As a result of the Xenomorphs' DNA inside her, the clone has enhanced strength and reflexes, acidic blood, and a psychic link with the Xenomorphs. Additionally, the Xenomorph's genetic memory allows the clone to have some of Ripley's memories.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: A group of mercenaries consisting of Elgyn, Johner, Christie, Vriess, Hillard, and Call arrives at "Auriga" on their ship "Betty" and deliver several abducted humans in stasis. The military scientists use the humans as hosts for the aliens, raising several adult Xenomorphs for study.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: The "Betty" crew soon encounters Ripley 8. Annalee Call recognizes her name and tries to kill her, suspecting that Ripley 8 may be used to create Xenomorphs, but the creatures have already been cloned. The mature Xenomorphs escape confinement by killing off one of their own to use its acidic blood to burn through their enclosures and capture Dr. Jonathan Gediman. They damage the "Auriga" and kill the majority of the crew who failed to evacuate, including General Perez and Elgyn. Military scientist Dr. Wren reveals that the ship's default command in an emergency is to return to Earth. Realizing that this will unleash the Xenomorphs on Earth, Ripley 8, the mercenaries, Wren, a soldier named DiStephano, and surviving Xenomorph host Purvis decide to head for the "Betty" and use it to destroy the "Auriga". Along the way, Ripley 8 discovers a laboratory containing the grotesque results of the previous seven failed attempts to clone Ellen Ripley. A surviving one begs Ripley 8 to euthanize her; she complies and then incinerates the lab.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: As the group makes their way through the damaged ship, they swim through a flooded kitchen. They are chased by two Xenomorphs. One is killed, while the other snatches Hillard. As they escape the kitchen, the Xenomorph returns and blinds Christie, who sacrifices himself to kill the Xenomorph. After Wren betrays the group, Call is revealed to be an android. Using her ability to interface with the "Auriga"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s systems, Call sets it on a collision course with Earth, hoping to destroy the Xenomorphs in the crash. She cuts off Wren's escape route and directs the Xenomorphs toward him. Ripley 8 is captured by a Xenomorph, while the others head for the "Betty". Wren, who is already aboard, shoots Purvis, takes Call hostage, and demands that she abort the collision. An injured Purvis attacks Wren and forces Wren's head to his chest as the Xenomorph embryo he is carrying bursts through his ribcage, killing them both. The survivors shoot and kill the juvenile Xenomorph.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Ripley is taken to the Alien nest, where she finds Gediman, alive and partially cocooned. The Alien queen, having developed a uterus as a result of her genetic contamination with Ripley 8, gives birth to a Xenomorph with overtly human traits. Unable to bond with the queen, the hybrid Xenomorph recognizes Ripley 8 as its mother, so it kills the Alien queen and Gediman. Ripley 8 takes advantage of the distraction to escape and makes her way to the "Betty".


title: Alien Resurrection

text: The newborn hybrid reaches the ship and attacks Call, killing DiStephano when he tries to help her. Ripley 8 finds her way onto the ship and saves Call by distracting the hybrid. Using her acidic blood, Ripley 8 melts a hole in a window and pushes the hybrid towards it. The decompression violently blows the creature through the hole and out into space as Ripley 8 tearfully watches on.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: The countdown on the "Auriga" continues as the survivors escape in the "Betty". The "Auriga" collides with Earth, causing a large explosion. As they look down at Earth, Call asks what Ripley 8 wants to do next. "I don't know. I'm a stranger here myself," she replies.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Impressed with his work as a screenwriter, 20th Century Fox hired Joss Whedon to write the film's script. Whedon's initial screenplay had a third act on Earth, with a final battle for Earth itself. Whedon wrote five versions of the final act, none of which ended up in the film.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: The studio initially imagined that the film would center around a clone of the character Newt from "Aliens", as the Ellen Ripley character had died at the end of "Alien 3". Whedon composed a thirty-page treatment surrounding this idea before being informed that the studio, though impressed with his script, now intended to base the story on a clone of Ripley, whom they saw as the anchor of the series. Whedon had to rewrite the script in a way that would bring back the Ripley character, a task he found difficult. The idea of cloning was suggested by producers David Giler and Walter Hill, who opposed the production of "Alien Resurrection", as they thought it would ruin the franchise.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Sigourney Weaver, who had played Ripley throughout the series, wanted to liberate the character in "Alien 3" as she did not want Ripley to become "a figure of fun" who would continuously "wake up with monsters running around". The possibility of an "Alien vs. Predator" film was another reason for the character's death, as she thought the concept "sounded awful". However, Weaver was impressed with Whedon's script. She thought that the error during Ripley's cloning process would allow her to further explore the character, since Ripley becoming part-human and part-Alien would create uncertainty about where her loyalties lay. This was an interesting concept to Weaver, who thought the film brought back the spirit of "Alien" and "Aliens". Weaver received a co-producer credit and was reportedly paid $11 million.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: "Trainspotting" director Danny Boyle was the producers' first choice to direct the film. Boyle and his producer met with effects supervisors to discuss the film, but he was not interested in pursuing the project and went on to make "A Life Less Ordinary" instead. Peter Jackson was also approached, but declined as he could not get excited about an "Alien" film. In 1995, after the release of "The Usual Suspects", 20th Century Fox approached Bryan Singer to direct. Jean-Pierre Jeunet was asked to direct, as the film's producers believed he had a unique visual style. Jeunet had just completed the script to "Amélie" and was surprised he was offered the job for "Alien Resurrection", as he thought the franchise had finished with "Alien 3" and believed that making a sequel was a bad idea. Jeunet, however, accepted the project with a budget of $70 million. He required an interpreter as he did not speak much English when filming began.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Jeunet hired French special effects supervisor Pitof and cinematographer Darius Khondji, both of whom he had worked with on "The City of Lost Children". Nigel Phelps was chosen for production designer, having made a name for himself designing Gotham City in "Batman" and Mega-City One in "Judge Dredd". Jeunet and his crew watched the latest science fiction and "Alien" films as reference material, and obtained production reports from the "Alien" films to study the camera setups. Jeunet was given creative control, contributing several elements to the script including five different endings, although the expensive ones were dismissed. He also opted to make the film a dark comedy and was encouraged to include more violence. In June 1996, Jeunet's frequent co-director, conceptual artist Marc Caro had drawn rough sketches of characters' costumes, which were shown to veteran costume designer Bob Ringwood. Ringwood made several modifications for the final design.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Special effects company Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated (ADI) was hired for the film, having previously worked on "Alien 3". ADI founders Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis also had experience working with Stan Winston on "Aliens". ADI based their designs and modifications of the Alien creatures on the film's script, which included the creatures having pointed tails for swimming, making their head domes and chins more pointed, and establishing them to appear more vicious using techniques of camera angles and shot duration. After receiving the director's approval, ADI began to create small sculptures, sketches, paintings, and life-size models. Referring to the use of animatronics in the film, Twentieth Century Fox executive Tom Rothman stated, "Most movies would be tempted to do the Newborn digitally ... [but] it looks so much more real when you [use] animatronics".


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Jeunet asked ADI to lean towards making the human/Alien hybrid creature more human than Alien. An early concept was to replicate Sigourney Weaver's features, although the crew felt this design would be too similar to the design of the creature Sil from the 1995 film "Species". Eyes and a nose were added to the hybrid to allow it to have more expressions and communicate more emotion than the xenomorphs, so that it would have more depth as a character rather than being "just a killing machine". Jeunet was adamant about the hybrid having genitalia which resembled a mix of male and female sexes. 20th Century Fox was uncomfortable with this, however, and Jeunet eventually changed his mind, feeling that "even for a Frenchman, it's too much". The genitalia were removed during post-production using digital effects techniques. The animatronic hybrid required nine puppeteers and was the most complex animatronic in the film.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: "Alien Resurrection" was filmed at Fox studios in Los Angeles, California, from October 1996 to February 1997. Jeunet had difficulty securing studio space, as the filming of Hollywood blockbusters such as "Titanic", "Starship Troopers", and "" were taking place at the same time. "Alien Resurrection" was the first installment in the "Alien" series to be filmed outside England, a decision made by Weaver, who believed that the previous films' travel schedules exhausted the crew.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: The underwater scene was the first to be shot, and for its filming Stage 16 at Fox Studios was reconstructed into a 36-by-45-meter tank, 4.5 meters deep, containing 548,000 gallons of water. The decision was made to convert the stage rather than film the scene elsewhere, since moving the film crew to the nearest adequate facility in San Diego would have been too costly for a single scene, and by converting Stage 16 20th Century Fox would be able to use the tank for future films. Because of the aquatic filming, the ability to swim was a prerequisite for cast and crew when signing onto the film. The cast trained in swimming pools in Los Angeles with professional divers to learn how to use the equipment. An additional two-and-a-half weeks of training took place at the studio with stunt coordinator Ernie Orsatti and underwater cinematographer Peter Romano. Weaver, however, was unable to participate in most of the training due to commitments on Broadway. Winona Ryder faced a challenge with the scene, as she had nearly drowned at age 12 and had not been in the water since. She suggested using a body double, but knew that it would be too obvious to audiences due to the difference in hair length. She filmed the scene, but suffered from anxiety on the first day of filming.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Director Jeunet wanted to display Ripley's new powers, including a scene in which Ripley throws a basketball through a hoop while facing the opposite direction. Weaver trained for ten days and averaged one out of six baskets, although the distance required for filming was farther than she had practiced. Jeunet was concerned about the time being spent on the shot and wanted to either use a machine to throw the ball or to insert it later using computer-generated imagery (CGI). Weaver, however, was determined to make the shot authentic, and insisted on doing it herself. The shot required many dozens of takes, during which none of the balls went in. The crew were going to give up, but gave Weaver one last shot, and in this take, she got the ball in perfectly (the idea that she did it in one take is a myth). The ball was out of frame for a moment during the shot, and Pitof offered to edit it so that the ball was on-screen for the entire scene, but Weaver refused. Ron Perlman broke character when she made the basket, and turned to the camera to say "Oh my god!" There was enough of a pause between Weaver's basket and Perlman's statement for the film's editors to cut the scene accordingly during post-production.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: The film's script was laid out similar to a comic book, with pictures on the left and dialog and descriptions on the right. Jeunet planned every shot, which made it easier for visual effects artists to do their work. Blue Sky Studios was hired to create the first CGI Aliens to appear on film. Impressed with the company's work on "Joe's Apartment" creating CGI cockroaches, Jeunet and Pitof opted to hire the company to create 30 to 40 shots of CGI Aliens. The decision was made to use CGI Aliens rather than puppets or suited actors whenever the creatures' legs were in frame, as Jeunet felt that a man in a suit is easy to distinguish when the full body is seen.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: All of the spaceships in the film were miniatures, as visual effects supervisors believed CGI was not effective enough to create realistic spaceships. The USM "Auriga" was originally designed by artist Nigel Phelps and resembled a medical instrument. This design proved to be too vertical for the film's opening shot, in which the camera pans out to show the ship, and did not appear satisfactory in the film's 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Three days before the design had to be finalized, Jeunet rejected it. Phelps, production illustrator Jim Martin, and concept artist Sylvain Despretz were tasked to redesign the ship. Jeunet felt Martin's design was too much like a space station, while he accepted Despretz's design due to its streamlined and horizontal appearance.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Argonaut Games, developer of the film's tie-in video game, was also tasked to create a game that would appear in the film titled "Atom Zone". The game was created within a time frame of a few days and involved the building of custom hardware to run the game which briefly appears during the film's introduction of the "Betty"s crew.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Composer John Frizzell was encouraged by a friend to audition to compose "Alien Resurrection"'s film score. Frizzell sent in four cassettes and received a call from 20th Century Fox about the fourth, which contained music from "The Empty Mirror". Impressed with his work, Fox representative Robert Kraft had a short meeting with Frizzell and hired him. Frizzell spent seven months writing and recording the score, which Jeunet requested to be very different and unique from the previous films in the series. This included themes of romance and eroticism, incorporating sound effects such as a gong and rub rod. The cue "They Swim" took one month to complete as Jeunet was not pleased with Frizzell's original version, although the final result was a mix between the first and third versions he had composed. "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man", Popeye's theme song, written by Sammy Lerner, is whistled by Dom Vriess and is credited in the credits.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: The film had its premiere in Paris on November 6, 1997 before opening in France on November 12. It opened in the United States and Canada on November 26.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: "Alien Resurrection" was first released onto home-video in the VHS, LaserDisc and DVD formats on June 2, 1998. The film received its first Blu-ray release as part of the "Alien Anthology" box set released in 2010 including all four films and their alternate versions. The film was re-released on Blu-ray on May 10, 2011, in a stand-alone feature.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: In 2003, Jeunet included an alternate version of the film on the "Alien Quadrilogy" DVD box set with different opening and closing scenes, which were originally cut due to budget restrictions. The deleted scenes included references to the character Newt from "Aliens", Vriess making a joke to Call, Ripley's clone waking up in the middle of her operation, an extended conversation in the mess hall that reveals the eventual fate of Ripley's former employers, Weyland–Yutani, an extended dialogue between Call and Ripley's clone in the chapel and scenes of the "Betty" landing on Earth and the planet's landscape during the final dialogue between Ripley and Call, as they view the ruins of Paris. The special edition restores 13 minutes and 5 seconds' worth of footage (including the new opening and ending), and is 7 minutes longer than the theatrical version. Jeunet has stated that the special edition is not a director's cut as his preferred version is the theatrical cut. "Alien Quadrilogy" contains a documentary called "One Step Beyond: The Making of Alien Resurrection", featuring over two hours of footage relating to pre-production, production, post-production, screen tests, concept art, and audio commentary by the cast and crew. "Alien Resurrection – Collector's Edition", which also includes "One Step Beyond: The Making of Alien Resurrection", was released on January 6, 2004.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: "Alien Resurrection" opened in France on November 12, 1997 on 507 screens and had over 1 million admissions for the week with a gross of $6,754,530, finishing at the top of the French box office. The film was released in the United States and Canada on November 26. Debuting at number two at the box office behind "Flubber", "Alien Resurrection" grossed $25 million in its first five days—$16 million over the weekend, for an average of $6,821 per 2,415 theaters. It went on to gross $47.8 million in the United States and Canada, the least successful of the "Alien" series in that market. It was well received internationally, however, with a gross of $113.6 million, bringing its total gross to $161.4 million. It was the 43rd-highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada in 1997.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: , of the reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes are positive, and have an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""Alien Resurrection" marks a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still lacks the emotional stakes that helped make the franchise's first two entries sci-fi/horror classics." Metacritic assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Lisa Schwarzbaum from "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film "B+" and stated "By rocketing ahead 200 years from the previous film and jiggering the story cleverly [...] to create a Ripley reconstructed through a mix of human and alien DNA, "Alien Resurrection" power-kicks the whole definition of the Horrifying Other into a fresh, deep, exhilaratingly thoughtful, millennium-sensitive direction". "Radio Times"'s Alan Jones described the film as "tense, mordantly funny, very graphic, and bloody", and praised Weaver in a four out of five stars review. "Houston Chronicle" editor Louis B. Parks said "The film is a marvel, a well-photographed feast of visual imagery", while Richard Schickel of "Time" wrote that it was "Less frightening, but as much fun as ever". "The Washington Post" contributor Desson Thomson felt it "satisfactorily recycles the great surprises that made the first movie so powerful. And most significantly, it makes a big hoot of the whole business". Andrew Johnston commented in "Time Out New York" that "If Ripley, Call, and the pirates had been developed further, the film might have been as involving as James Cameron's "Aliens", the gold-standard of the series. The film's Techno-Gothic look is gorgeously immersive, however, and Jeunet turns in a number of original (and grotesque) effects sequences that are worth the price of admission". "Salon"′s Laura Miller noted "Weaver obviously relishes playing this feral, sarcastic new Ripley, and her pleasure is infectious". "Rolling Stone" critic Peter Travers's review was mostly positive, writing that the film "is sometimes glib and repetitive, but it stays worthy of its predecessors by staying close to its two battered heroines".


title: Alien Resurrection

text: "TV Guide" magazine's Maitland McDonagh wrote in her mixed review: "The plot is more of the same old running and screaming, but Weaver is worth the price of admission all by herself, which is just as well in light of the less-than-fleshed-out characters by whom she's surrounded." James Berardinelli also gave a mixed review at "ReelViews" by writing "If you consider "Alien" and "Aliens" to be the main course, then "Alien Resurrection" is leftovers". Jeffery Overstreet of "Looking closer" rated the film "C+" and commented "What began as the most menacing movie monster of all has evolved into a whining oaf that looks like it's been dipped in a vat of Cream of Wheat". Janet Maslin from "The New York Times" reported "The filmmaker's ghoulishly fecund imagination makes this tale murky that even the screen's toughest woman-warrior remains largely stuck in the mud". Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film a negative review, stating "There is not a single shot in the movie to fill one with wonder", later naming it one of the worst films of 1997.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Screenwriter Joss Whedon was unhappy with the final product. When asked in 2005 how the film differed from the script he had written, Whedon responded:


title: Alien Resurrection

text: It wasn't a question of doing everything differently, although they changed the ending; it was mostly a matter of doing everything wrong. They said the lines [...] mostly [...] but they said them all wrong. And they cast it wrong. And they designed it wrong. And they scored it wrong. They did everything wrong that they could possibly do. There's actually a fascinating lesson in filmmaking, because everything that they did reflects back to the script or looks like something from the script, and people assume that, if I hated it, then they'd changed the script [...] but it wasn't so much that they'd changed the script; it's that they just executed it in such a ghastly fashion as to render it almost unwatchable.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Conversely, H. R. Giger, designer of the original Alien, was pleased with "Resurrection", describing it as an "excellent film", but was disappointed about not being credited.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: To coincide with the release of the film, a book titled "Making of Alien Resurrection" was released on November 28, 1997.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: A video game "Alien Resurrection" for the PlayStation was released in 2000, developed by Argonaut Games.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: Joss Whedon had written an Earth-set script for "Alien 5", but Sigourney Weaver was not interested in this setting and sought to return the story to the planetoid from the first film. Weaver has remained open to a role in a fifth installment on the condition that she likes the story. Before 20th Century Fox greenlit "Alien vs. Predator", James Cameron had been collaborating on the plot for a fifth "Alien" film with another writer. Learning of Fox's plans for a crossover, he ceased work on his concept. Before he saw the film, Cameron had stated that it would "kill the validity of the franchise", and that "it was "Frankenstein Meets Werewolf""—like "Universal just taking their assets and starting to play them off against each other". Although he later admitted to liking "Alien vs. Predator", Cameron ruled out any future involvement with the series.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: In a 2002 interview, Ridley Scott stated that a new "Alien" project "would be a lot of fun", but that "the most important thing was to get the story right". Scott's concept for the plot was "to go back to where the alien creatures were first found and explain how they were created". In late 2008, Weaver hinted in an interview with MTV that she and Scott were working on an "Alien" spinoff film, which would focus on the chronicles of Ellen Ripley rather than on the Aliens, but the continuation of Ripley's story has not materialized. Instead, "Prometheus" was released on June 8, 2012. A sequel to "Prometheus", titled "", was released on May 19, 2017.


title: Alien Resurrection

text: At the 2014 Hero Complex Film Festival, Sigourney Weaver hinted that she would be interested in returning to the role of Ripley, saying: "Had we done a fifth one, I don't doubt that her humanity would have prevailed. I do feel like there is more story to tell. I feel a longing from fans for the story to be finished. I could imagine a situation where we finish telling the story." She was quoted: "I don't think "Alien" belongs on Earth popping out of a haystack, which is where I was afraid it was going to go. I feel it should take place in the far reaches of the universe where no one in their right mind would go. There are very few filmmakers that I can think of that I would want to entrust this to."


title: Alien Resurrection

text: In 2017, 20th Century Fox was rumored to be reassessing the state of the franchise after the lukewarm reception to "Covenant", although they have not released an official statement to that effect. According to Collider.com, there will be only one additional prequel film before a soft-reboot is made to the "Alien" universe consisting of a new series of "Alien" films with brand-new, original characters as well as a new setting. At the 2019 CinemaCon, following The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, it was officially confirmed that future "Alien" films were currently in development.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which ended the two-decade rule of President Ferdinand Marcos and led to the establishment of the current democratic Fifth Philippine Republic.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Corazon Aquino was married to Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., who was one of the most prominent critics of President Marcos. After the assassination of her husband on August 21, 1983, she emerged as leader of the opposition against the president. In late 1985, Marcos called for a snap election, and Aquino ran for president with former Senator Salvador Laurel as her running mate for vice president. After the election held on February 7, 1986, the Batasang Pambansa proclaimed Marcos and his running mate Arturo Tolentino as the winners, which prompted allegations of electoral fraud and Aquino's call for massive civil disobedience actions. Subsequently, the People Power Revolution, a non-violent mass demonstration movement, took place from February 22 to 25. The People Power Revolution, along with defections from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and support from the Philippine Catholic Church, successfully ousted Marcos and secured Aquino's accession to the presidency on February 25, 1986. Prior to her election as president, Aquino had not held any elected office. She was the first female president of the Philippines.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: As president, Aquino oversaw the drafting of the 1987 Constitution, which limited the powers of the presidency and re-established the bicameral Congress, successfully removing the previous dictatorial government structure. Her economic policies focused on forging good economic standing amongst the international community as well as disestablishing Marcos-era crony capitalist monopolies, emphasizing the free market and responsible economy. Her administration pursued peace talks to resolve the Moro conflict, and the result of these talks was creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Aquino was criticized for the Mendiola Massacre, which resulted in the shooting deaths of at least 12 peaceful protesters by Philippine state security forces. The Philippines faced various natural calamities in the latter part of Aquino's administration, such as the 1990 Luzon earthquake, 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption and Tropical Storm Thelma. Several coup attempts were made against her government. She was succeeded as president by Fidel V. Ramos and returned to civilian life in 1992.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2008 and died on August 1, 2009. Her son Benigno Aquino III served as president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. After her death, monuments were built and public landmarks were named in honor of Corazon Aquino all around the Philippines. Aquino was regarded as the "Mother of Democracy". In 2018, she was recognized by the Human Rights Victims Claims Board as a Motu Proprio human rights violations victim of the Martial Law era.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino was born María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco on January 25, 1933, in Paniqui, Tarlac. Her father was José Cojuangco, a prominent Tarlac businessman and former congressman, and her mother was Demetria Sumulong, a pharmacist. Both of Aquino's parents were from prominent political families. Aquino's grandfather from her father's side, Melecio Cojuangco, was a member of the historic Malolos Congress, and Aquino's mother belonged to the politically influential Sumulong family of Rizal province, which included Juan Sumulong, who ran against Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon in 1941. Aquino was the sixth of eight children, two of whom died in infancy. Her siblings were Pedro, Josephine, Teresita, Jose Jr., and Maria Paz.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino spent her elementary school days at St. Scholastica's College in Manila, where she graduated at the top of her class as valedictorian. She transferred to Assumption Convent to pursue high school studies. After her family moved to the United States, she attended the Assumption-run Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia. She then transferred to Notre Dame Convent School in New York City, where she graduated from in 1949. During her high school years in the United States, Aquino volunteered for the campaign of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Thomas Dewey against Democratic incumbent U.S. President Harry S. Truman during the 1948 United States presidential election. After graduating from high school, she pursued her college education at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York, graduating in 1953 with a major in French and minor in mathematics.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: After graduating from college, she returned to the Philippines and studied law at Far Eastern University in 1953. While attending, she met Benigno "Ninoy" S. Aquino Jr., who was the son of the late Speaker Benigno S. Aquino Sr. and a grandson of General Servillano Aquino. She discontinued her law education and married Benigno in Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Pasay on October 11, 1954. The couple raised five children: Maria Elena ("Ballsy"; born 1955), Aurora Corazon ("Pinky"; born 1957), Benigno Simeon III ("Noynoy"; 1960–2021), Victoria Elisa ("Viel"; born 1961) and Kristina Bernadette ("Kris"; born 1971).


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino had initially had difficulty adjusting to provincial life when she and her husband moved to Concepcion, Tarlac, in 1955. Aquino found herself bored in Concepcion, and welcomed the opportunity to have dinner with her husband inside the American military facility at nearby Clark Field. Afterwards, the Aquino family moved to a bungalow in suburban Quezon City.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Corazon Aquino was fluent in French, Japanese, Spanish, and English aside from her native Tagalog and Kapampangan.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Corazon Aquino's husband Benigno Aquino Jr., a member of the Liberal Party, rose to become the youngest governor in the country in 1961 and then the youngest senator ever elected to the Senate of the Philippines in 1967. For most of her husband's political career, Aquino remained a housewife who raised their children and hosted her spouse's political allies who would visit their Quezon City home. She would decline to join her husband on stage during campaign rallies, instead preferring to be in the back of the audience and listen to him. Unbeknownst to many at the time, Corazon Aquino sold some of her prized inheritance to fund the candidacy of her husband.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: As Benigno Aquino Jr. emerged as a leading critic of the government of President Ferdinand Marcos, he became seen as a strong candidate for president to succeed Marcos in the 1973 elections. However, Marcos, who was barred by the 1935 Constitution to seek a third term, declared martial law on September 21, 1972 and later abolished the constitution, thereby allowing him to remain in office. Benigno Aquino Jr. was among the first to be arrested at the onset of martial law, and was later sentenced to death. During her husband's incarceration, Corazon Aquino stopped going to beauty salons or buying new clothes and prohibited her children from attending parties, until a priest advised her and her children to try to live as normal lives as possible.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Despite Corazon's initial opposition, Benigno Aquino Jr. decided to run in the 1978 Batasang Pambansa elections from his prison cell as party leader of the newly created LABAN. Corazon Aquino campaigned on behalf of her husband and delivered a political speech for the first time in her life during this political campaign. In 1980 Benigno Aquino Jr. suffered a heart attack, and Marcos allowed Senator Aquino and his family to leave for exile in the United States upon intervention from U.S. President Jimmy Carter so that Aquino could seek medical treatment. The family settled in Boston, and Corazon Aquino would later recall the next three years as the happiest days of her marriage and family life. On August 21, 1983, Benigno Aquino Jr. ended his stay in the United States and returned without his family to the Philippines, where he was immediately assassinated on a staircase leading to the tarmac of Manila International Airport. The airport is now named Ninoy Aquino International Airport, renamed by the Congress in his honor in 1987. Corazon Aquino returned to the Philippines a few days later and led her husband's funeral procession, in which more than two million people participated.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Following her husband's assassination in 1983, Corazon Aquino became active in various demonstrations held against the Marcos regime. She began to assume the mantle of leadership left by her husband and became a figurehead of the anti-Marcos political opposition. On November 3, 1985, during an interview with American journalist David Brinkley on "This Week with David Brinkley", Marcos suddenly announced snap elections that would be held within three months to dispel doubt against his regime's legitimate authority, an action that surprised the nation. The election was later scheduled to be held on February 7, 1986. A petition was organized to urge Aquino to run for president, headed by former newspaper publisher Joaquin Roces. On December 1, the petition of 1.2 million signatures was publicly presented to Aquino in an event attended by 15,000 people, and on December 3, Aquino officially declared her candidacy. United Opposition (UNIDO) party leader Salvador Laurel was chosen as Aquino's running mate as candidate for vice president.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: During the campaign, Marcos attacked Corazon Aquino on her husband's previous ties to communists, characterizing the election as a fight "between democracy and communism". Aquino refuted Marcos' charge and stated that she would not appoint a single communist to her cabinet. Marcos also accused Aquino of playing "political football" with the United States in regards to the continued United States military presence in the Philippines at Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base. Another point of attack for Marcos was Aquino's inexperience in public office. Marcos' campaign was characterized by sexist attacks, such as remarks by Marcos that Aquino was "just a woman" and that a woman's remarks should be limited to the bedroom.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: The snap election was held on February 7, 1986, and was marred by massive electoral fraud, violence, intimidation, coercion, and disenfranchisement of voters. On February 11, while votes were still being tabulated, former Antique Governor Evelio Javier, who had been director of Aquino's campaign in Antique, was assassinated. During the tallying of votes conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), 30 poll computer technicians walked out to contest the alleged election-rigging being done in favor of Marcos. Years later it was claimed that the walkout of computer technicians was led by Linda Kapunan, wife of Lt Col Eduardo Kapunan, a leader of Reform the Armed Forces Movement that plotted to attack the Malacañang Palace and kill Marcos and his family, leading to a partial reevaluation of the walkout event.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On February 15, 1986, the Batasang Pambansa, which was dominated by Marcos' ruling party and its allies, declared President Marcos as the winner of the election. However, NAMFREL's electoral count showed that Corazon Aquino had won. Aquino claimed victory according to NAMFREL's electoral count and called for a rally dubbed "Tagumpay ng Bayan" (People's Victory Rally) the following day to protest the declaration by the Batasang Pambansa. Aquino also called for boycotts against products and services from companies controlled or owned by individuals closely allied with Marcos. The rally was held at the historic Rizal Park in Luneta, Manila and drew a pro-Aquino crowd of around two million people. The dubious election results drew condemnation from both domestic and foreign powers. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines issued a statement strongly criticizing the conduct of the election, describing the election as violent and fraudulent. The United States Senate likewise condemned the election. Aquino rejected a power-sharing agreement proposed by the American diplomat Philip Habib, who had been sent as an emissary by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to help defuse the tension.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On February 22, 1986, disgruntled and reformist military officers led by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel V. Ramos surprised the nation and the international community by the announcement of their defection from the Marcos government, citing a strong belief that Aquino was the real winner in the contested presidential election. Enrile, Ramos, and the rebel soldiers then set up operations in Camp Aguinaldo, the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine Constabulary, across Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). Cardinal Sin appealed to the public in a broadcast over Church-run Radyo Veritas, and millions of Filipinos gathered to the part of Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue between the two camps to give their support and prayers to the rebels. At that time, Aquino was meditating in a Carmelite convent in Cebu. Upon learning of the defection, Aquino and Cardinal Sin appeared on Radyo Vertias to rally behind Enrile and Ramos. Aquino then flew back to Manila to prepare for the takeover of the government.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino was sworn in as the eleventh president of the Philippines on February 25, 1986. An hour after Aquino's inauguration, Marcos held his own inauguration ceremony at the Malacañang Palace. Later that same day, Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines to Hawaii.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Corazon Aquino's accession to the presidency marked the end of authoritarian rule in the Philippines. Aquino is the first female president of the Philippines and is still the only president of the Philippines to have never held any prior political position. Aquino is regarded as the first female president in Asia.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On February 25, 1986, the first day of her administration, Aquino issued Proclamation No. 1, which announced an intention to reorganize the government and called on all officials appointed by Marcos to resign, starting with members of the Supreme Court. On March 25, 1986, President Aquino issued , which announced a transitional government into a democratic system. She abolished the 1973 Constitution that was in force during the martial law era, and by decree issued the provisional 1986 Freedom Constitution, pending the ratification of a more formal and comprehensive charter. This constitutional allowed her to exercise both executive and legislative powers during the period of transitional government.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: After the issuance of Proclamation No. 1, all 15 members of the Supreme Court submitted their resignations. Aquino then reorganized the membership of the Supreme Court with the stated purpose of restoring its judicial independence. On May 22, 1986, in the case "Lawyers League v. President Aquino", the reorganized Supreme Court declared the Aquino government as "not merely a "de facto" government but in fact and law a "de jure" government", and affirmed its legitimacy.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino appointed all 48 members of the 1986 Constitutional Commission ("Con-Com"), led by retired activist and former Supreme Court Associate Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, which was tasked with writing a new constitution. The Commission completed its final draft of the Constitution in October 1986.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On February 2, 1987, the Constitution of the Philippines was ratified by nationwide plebiscite. It remains the constitution of the Philippines to the present day. The Constitution established a bill of rights and a three-branch government consisting of the executive department, the legislative department, and the judicial department. The Constitution restored the bicameral Congress, which in 1973 had been abolished by Marcos and replaced with first the Batasang Bayan and later the Batasang Pambansa. The ratification of the new Constitution was soon followed by the election of senators and the election of House of Representatives members on May 11, 1987, as well as local elections on January 18, 1988.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: After the ratification of the constitution, Aquino promulgated two landmark legal codes, namely, the Family Code of 1987, which reformed the civil law on family relations, and the Administrative Code of 1987, which reorganized the structure of the executive department of government. Another landmark law that was enacted during her tenure was the 1991 Local Government Code, which devolved national government powers to local government units (LGUs). The new Code enhanced the power of LGUs to enact local taxation measures and assured them of a share in the national revenue.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: During Aquino's tenure, vital economic laws such as the Built-Operate-Transfer Law, Foreign Investments Act, and the Consumer Protection and Welfare Act were also enacted.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: The economy posted a positive growth of 3.4% during Aquino's first year in office, and continued to grow at an overall positive rate throughout her tenure for an average rate of 3.4% from 1986 to 1992. Real GDP growth suffered a 0.4% decrease in 1991 in the aftermath of the 1989 coup attempt by the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, which shook international confidence in the Philippine economy and hindered foreign investment.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino made fighting inflation one of her priorities after the nation suffered from skyrocketing prices during the last years of the Marcos administration. The last six years of the Marcos administration recorded an average annual inflation rate of 20.9%, which peaked in 1984 at 50.3%. From 1986 to 1992, the Philippines recorded an average annual inflation rate of 9.2%. During the Aquino administration, the annual inflation rate peaked at 18.1% in 1991; a stated reason for this increase was panic buying during the Gulf War. Overall, the economy under Aquino had an average growth of 3.8% from 1986 to 1992.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: One of Aquino's first actions as president was to seize Marcos' multi-billion dollar fortune of ill-gotten wealth. On February 28, 1986, four days into her presidency, Aquino formed the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), which was tasked with retrieving Marcos' domestic and international fortune.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: After his declaration of martial law in 1972 and his consolidation of authoritarian power, President Ferdinand Marcos issued various government decrees that awarded monopoly or oligopoly power over entire industries to various close associates, in a scheme later regarded as crony capitalism. President Aquino pursued a market liberalization agenda to combat this problem. President Aquino particularly targeted the sugar industry and the coconut industry for de-monopolization.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Throughout the tenure of President Ferdinand Marcos, government foreign debt had ballooned from less than $3 billion in 1970 to $28 billion by the end of his administration, through privatization of bad government assets and deregulation of many vital industries. The debt had badly tarnished the international credit standing and economic reputation of the country.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: President Aquino inherited the debt of the Marcos administration and weighed all options on what to do with the debt, including not paying the debt. Aquino eventually chose to honor all the debts that were previously incurred in order to clear the country's economic reputation. Her decision proved to be unpopular but Aquino defended it, saying that was the most practical move. Beginning in 1986, the Aquino administration paid off $4 billion of the country's outstanding debts to improve its international credit ratings and attract the attention of foreign investors. This move also ensured lower interest rates and longer payment terms for future loans. During the Aquino administration, the Philippines acquired an additional $9 billion debt, increasing the net national debt by $5 billion within six years due to the need to infuse capital and money into the economy. The Aquino administration was able to reduce the Philippines' external debt-to-GDP ratio by 30.1 percent, from 87.9 percent at the start of the administration to 67.8 percent in 1991.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: President Aquino envisioned agrarian and land reform as the centerpiece of her administration's social legislative agenda. However, her family background and social class as a privileged daughter of a wealthy and landed clan became a lightning rod of criticisms against her land reform agenda.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: After the Mendiola Massacre and in response to calls for agrarian reform, President Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation 131 and Executive Order 229 on July 22, 1987, which outlined her land reform program, including sugar lands. In 1988, with the backing of Aquino, the new Congress of the Philippines passed Republic Act No. 6657, more popularly known as the "Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law" (CARP), which paved the way for the redistribution of agricultural lands from landowners to tenant-farmers. Landowners were paid in exchange by the government through just compensation, and were also not allowed to retain more than five hectares of land. The law also allowed corporate landowners to "voluntarily divest a proportion of their capital stock, equity or participation in favor of their workers or other qualified beneficiaries", in lieu of turning over their land to the government for redistribution. Despite the flaws in the law, the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in 1989, declaring that the implementation of CARP was "a revolutionary kind of expropriation".


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Corazon Aquino herself was subject to a controversy that centered on Hacienda Luisita, a 6,453-hectare estate located in the province of Tarlac which she and her siblings inherited from her father José Cojuangco. Instead of land distribution, Hacienda Luisita reorganized itself into a corporation and distributed stock. As such, ownership of agricultural portions of the hacienda was transferred to the corporation, which in turn, gave its shares of stocks to farmers. Critics argued that Aquino bowed to pressure from relatives by allowing stock redistribution in lieu of land redistribution under CARP.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: The stock redistribution scheme was revoked in 2006, when the Department of Agrarian Reform ordered the mandatory redistribution of land to tenant-farmers of Hacienda Luisita. The Department of Agrarian Reform had looked into its revocation since 2004, when violence erupted in the hacienda over the retrenchment of workers, leaving seven people dead.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: From 1986 to 1990 numerous coup attempts were enacted on the Aquino administration and the new Philippine government. Many of these attempts were conducted by the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, who attempted to establish a military government, while other attempts were conducted by loyalists to former President Marcos.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On January 22, 1987, during the era of transition government and shortly before the nationwide plebiscite to ratify the Constitution, 12 citizens were killed and 51 were injured in the Mendiola Massacre. The incident was initially a peaceful protest by agrarian workers and farmers who had marched to the historic Mendiola Street near the Malacañan Palace to demand genuine land reform. The massacre occurred when Marines fired at farmers who tried to go beyond the designated demarcation line set by the police. The massacre resulted in several resignations from Aquino's cabinet, including Jose W. Diokno, head of the Presidential Committee on Human Rights, chairman of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and chairman of the government panel in charge of negotiations with rebel forces resigned from his government posts. His daughter Maris said, "It was the only time we saw him near tears."


title: Corazon Aquino

text: In September 1987, Vice President Doy Laurel resigned as secretary of foreign affairs. In his resignation letter to Aquino, Laurel stated, "the past years of Marcos are now beginning to look no worse than your first two years in office. And the reported controversies and scandals involving your closest relatives have become the object of our people's outrage. From 16,500 NPA regular when Marcos fell, the communists now claim an armed strength of 25,200. From city to countryside, anarchy has spread. There is anarchy within the government, anarchy within the ruling coalesced parties and anarchy in the streets."


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Finance Minister Jaime Ongpin, who had successfully advocated for paying external debt incurred during Marcos' administration, was dismissed by Aquino in September 1987 and later died in an apparent suicide in December 1987. His widow stated that he had been depressed due to infighting in Aquino's cabinet and lack of significant change since the People Power Revolution.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Soon after the Mendiola Massacre, the Aquino administration and Congress worked to pass significant agrarian reform, which culminated in the passage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARP).


title: Corazon Aquino

text: President Aquino conducted peace talks with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), an armed Moro Muslim insurgency group that sought to establish an independent Moro state within Mindanao. Aquino met with MNLF leader Nur Misuari and various MNLF groups in Sulu. In 1989, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created under Republic Act No. 6734 or the ARMM Organic Act, which established the Moro majority areas in the Mindanao island group as an autonomous region with its own government. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao lasted from 1989 to 2019, after which it was succeeded by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).


title: Corazon Aquino

text: The establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was opposed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a militant splinter group from the MNLF that sought to secede from the Philippines to establish an Islamic state in Mindanao. Peace talks with MILF began in 1997 under President Fidel Ramos and violent insurgency officially continued until 2014, when peace accords were formally signed between MILF and the administration of President Benigno Aquino III that would lead to the creation of the BARMM.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: The establishment of the ARMM also led to the establishment of Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group founded in 1989 by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani and composed of radical former members of the MNLF. Terrorist attacks by Abu Sayyaf would start in 1995 and continue to the present day, including the 2004 bombing of the MV "Superferry 14" that resulted in the deaths of 116 people.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Shortly after becoming president, Aquino ordered the release of hundreds of political prisoners imprisoned during the Marcos era, including communist insurgents belonging to the Communist Party of the Philippines. These releases included leaders such as Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison and New People's Army founder Bernabe Buscayno. Preliminary peace talks with the CPP ended after the Mendiola Massacre on January 22, 1987, during which at least 12 farmers were killed at a protest rally.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Soon after Aquino took office, several Philippine senators declared that the presence of U.S. military forces in the Philippines was an affront to national sovereignty. The senators called for the United States military to vacate U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay and Clark Air Base, and Aquino opposed their demand. The United States objected by stating that they had leased the property and that the leases were still in effect. The United States stated that the facilities at Subic Bay were unequaled anywhere in Southeast Asia and a U.S. pullout could make all of that region of the world vulnerable to an incursion by the Soviet Union or by a resurgent Japan. Another issue with the demand was that thousands of Filipinos worked at these military facilities and they would lose their jobs if the U.S. military moved out. Aquino opposed the Senate's demand and believed that the bases should have remained. Aquino organized a protest against the pullout, which only gathered between 100,000 and 150,000 supporters, far short of the 500,000 to 1 million that had been originally expected.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: The matter was still being debated when Mount Pinatubo erupted in June 1991, covering the entire area with volcanic ash. Despite attempts to continue the Subic Base, Aquino finally conceded. In December 1991, the government served notice that the U.S. had to close the base by the end of 1992.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On December 20, 1987, the MV "Doña Paz" sank after a collision with the oil tanker MV "Vector". The final death toll exceeded 4,300 people, and the sinking has been called the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster of the 20th century. In the aftermath, Aquino addressed the incident as "a national tragedy of harrowing proportions".


title: Corazon Aquino

text: The 1990 Luzon earthquake was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the island of Luzon. It left an estimate of 1,621 people dead and massive property damage.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: In 1991, a volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo, then thought to be dormant, killed around 800 people and caused widespread long-term devastation of agricultural lands in Central Luzon. Around 20,000 residents had to be evacuated and around 10,000 people were left homeless by the event. It was the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On November 1, 1991 Tropical Storm Thelma (also known as Typhoon Uring) caused massive flooding in Ormoc City, leaving around 5,000 dead in what was then considered to be the deadliest typhoon in Philippine history. On November 8, Aquino declared all of Leyte a disaster area.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: During Aquino's presidency, electric blackouts became common in Manila. The city experienced 7–12 hours-long blackouts, which severely affected its businesses. By the departure of Aquino in June 1992, businesses in Manila and nearby provinces had lost nearly $800 million since the preceding March.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Corazon Aquino's decision to deactivate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which was built during the Marcos administration, contributed to further electricity crises in the 1990s, as the 620 megawatts capacity of the plant would have been enough to cover the shortfall at that time. Critics of the BNPP had stated that the power plant was unsafe, and cited the millions of dollars in bribes paid to President Marcos to allow its construction. The administration had failed to provide for an adequate replacement for the plant before her term had completed, and President Corazon Aquino ended her term in 1992 with the country reeling under a severe power shortage crisis.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: The 1987 Constitution limited the president to a single six-year term with no possibility of re-election. As the end of her presidency drew near, close advisers and friends told Aquino that since she was not inaugurated under the 1987 Constitution, she was still eligible to seek the presidency again in the upcoming 1992 elections, the first presidential elections held under normal and peaceful circumstances since 1965. However, Aquino firmly declined the requests for her to seek reelection, citing her strong belief that the presidency was not a lifetime position.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Initially, she named Ramon V. Mitra, Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives who had been a friend of her husband, as her preferred candidate for the 1992 presidential elections. However, she later backtracked and instead supported the candidacy of General Fidel V. Ramos, who was her defense secretary and a key figure in the EDSA Revolution. Ramos had consistently stood by her government during the various coup attempts that were launched against her administration. Her sudden change of mind and withdrawal of support from Mitra drew criticism from her supporters in the liberal and social democratic sectors. Her decision also drew criticism from the Catholic Church, which questioned her support of Ramos due to his being a Protestant. General Ramos won the 1992 elections with 23.58% of the total votes in a wide-open campaign.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On June 30, 1992, Corazon Aquino formally and peacefully handed over power to Fidel Ramos. On that day, Fidel V. Ramos was inaugurated as the twelfth president of the Philippines. After the inauguration, Aquino left the ceremony in a simple white Toyota Crown she had purchased, rather than the lavish government-issued Mercedes Benz in which she and Ramos had ridden on the way to the ceremonies, to make the point that she was once again an ordinary citizen.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: During Aquino's retirement and stay as a private citizen, she remained active in the Philippine political scene. Aquino would voice her dissent to government actions and policies that she deemed threats to the democratic foundations of the country.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: In 1997, Aquino, together with Cardinal Jaime Sin, led a rally opposing President Fidel Ramos' attempt to extend his term through his proposal to amend the 1987 Constitution's restriction on presidential term limits. Ramos' proposed charter change would fail, leaving term limits and the presidential system in place.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: During the 1998 Philippine presidential election, Aquino endorsed the candidacy of former police general and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim from the Liberal Party for president. Lim would lose to Vice President Joseph Estrada, who won by a landslide. In 1999, Aquino and Cardinal Jaime Sin again worked together to oppose a second plan to amend the Constitution to remove term limits, this time under President Estrada. President Estrada stated that his plan to amend the Constitution was intended to lift provisions that 'restrict' economic activities and investments, and Estrada denied that it was an attempt to extend his stay in office. Estrada's proposed charter change would also fail.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: In 2000, Aquino joined the mounting calls for Estrada to resign from office, amid a series of corruption scandals, including strong allegations of bribery charges and gambling kickbacks. Estrada was impeached by the House of Representatives in November 2000 but acquitted by the Senate in December, which in January 2001 led to the Second EDSA Revolution, which ousted Estrada. During the Second EDSA Revolution, Aquino enthusiastically supported the ascendancy of Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the position of president. In the subsequent trial of Joseph Estrada, Estrada was acquitted of perjury but found guilty of plunder and sentenced to "reclusion perpetua" with the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from public office and forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth on September 12, 2007. Estrada was pardoned by President Macapagal-Arroyo on October 26, 2007.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: In 2005, after a series of revelations and exposes that implicated President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in rigging the 2004 presidential elections, Aquino called on Arroyo to resign in order to prevent bloodshed, violence and further political deterioration. Aquino once again led massive street-level demonstrations, this time demanding the resignation of President Arroyo.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: During the 2007 senatorial elections, Aquino actively campaigned for her only son, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, who went on to win his race. Less than a year after Corazon Aquino's death in 2009, Benigno Aquino III won the 2010 Philippine presidential election and served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: In December 2008, Corazon Aquino publicly expressed regret for her participation in the 2001 Second EDSA Revolution, which installed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as president. She apologized to former President Joseph Estrada for the role she played in his ouster in 2001. Aquino's apology drew criticisms from numerous politicians. In June 2009, two months before her death, Aquino issued a public statement in which she strongly denounced and condemned the Arroyo administration's plans of amending the 1987 Constitution, calling it a "shameless abuse of power".


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Shortly after leaving the presidency, Aquino traveled abroad, giving speeches and lectures on issues of democracy, development, human rights, and women empowerment. At the 1994 meeting of the UNESCO World Commission on Culture and Development in Manila, Aquino delivered a speech urging the unconditional release of Burmese democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi from detention. Until her death in 2009, Aquino would continue to petition for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino was a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international organization of former and current female heads of state, from the group's inception in 1996 to her death.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: In 1997, Aquino attended the wake and funeral of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whom she met during the latter's visit in Manila in 1989. In 2005, Aquino joined the international community in mourning the death of Pope John Paul II.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: In 2002, Aquino became the first woman named to the Board of Governors at the Asian Institute of Management, a leading graduate business school and think tank in the Asia Pacific region. She served on the Board until 2006.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: After her term as president, Aquino was involved in several charitable activities and socio-economic initiatives. From 1992 until her death, Aquino was chairperson of the Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation, which she set up in her husband's honor after his assassination in 1983. Aquino supported the Gawad Kalinga social housing project for the poor and homeless. In 2007, Aquino helped establish the PinoyME Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to provide microfinancing programs and projects for the poor. Aquino also painted, and would occasionally give away her paintings to friends and family or auction her paintings and donate the proceeds to charity. She never sold her art for her own profit.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On March 24, 2008, Aquino's family announced that the former president had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Upon her being earlier informed by her doctors that she had only three months to live, she pursued medical treatment and chemotherapy. A series of healing Masses for Aquino, who was a devout Catholic, were held throughout the country for her recovery. In a public statement during one healing Mass on May 13, 2008, Aquino said that her blood tests indicated that she was responding well to treatment, although her hair and appetite loss were apparent.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: By July 2009, Aquino was reported to be suffering from loss of appetite and in very serious condition. At that time she was confined to Makati Medical Center. It was later announced that Aquino and her family had decided to stop chemotherapy and other medical interventions for her.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Aquino died in the Makati Medical Center at 3:18 a.m. on August 1, 2009, due to cardiorespiratory arrest at the age of 76.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On the day of Aquino's death, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced a 10-day mourning period for the former president and issued Administrative Order No. 269 detailing the necessary arrangements for a state funeral. Arroyo was on a state visit to the United States at the time of Aquino's death and returned to the Philippines on August 5, cutting her visit short to pay her last respects to Aquino. Aquino's children declined Arroyo's offer of a state funeral for their mother.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: All churches in the Philippines celebrated requiem masses simultaneously throughout the country and all government offices flew the Philippine flag at half-mast. Hours after her death, Aquino's body lay in repose for public viewing at the La Salle Green Hills campus in Mandaluyong. On August 3, 2009, Aquino's body was transferred from La Salle Greenhills to the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, during which hundreds of thousands of Filipinos lined the streets to view and escort the former leader's body. On the way to the cathedral, Aquino's funeral cortege passed along Ayala Avenue in Makati, stopping in front of the monument to her husband Ninoy, where throngs of mourners gathered and sang the patriotic protest anthem ""Bayan Ko". Aquino's casket was brought inside the cathedral by mid-afternoon that day. Following her death, all Roman Catholic dioceses in the country held Requiem Masses.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: On August 4, 2009, Bongbong Marcos and Imee Marcos, two prominent children of late former President Ferdinand Marcos, paid their last respects to Aquino in spite of the two families' longstanding feud. The Marcos siblings were received by Aquino's daughters María Elena, Aurora Corazon, and Victoria Elisa.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: A final Requiem Mass was held on the morning of August 5, 2009, with Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Bishop of Balanga Socrates B. Villegas, and other high-ranking clergymen concelebrating. Aquino's daughter Kris spoke on behalf of her family towards the end of the Mass. Aquino's flag-draped casket was escorted from the cathedral to Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque, where she was interred beside her husband in her family mausoleum. Aquino's funeral procession took more than eight hours to reach the burial site, as tens of thousands of civilians lined the route to pay their respects. Philippine Air Force UH-1 helicopters showered the procession with yellow confetti and ships docked at Manila's harbor blared their sirens to salute the late president.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Both local and international leaders showed respect for Aquino's achievements in the process of democratization in the Philippines.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Various politicians across the political spectrum expressed their grief and praise for the former Philippine leader. President Arroyo, once an ally of Aquino, remembered the sacrifices she made for the country and called her a "national treasure". Former President Estrada said that the country had lost its mother and guiding voice with her sudden death. He also described Aquino as the "Philippines' most loved woman". Although they were at one time political foes, Aquino and Estrada had reconciled and joined forces in opposing President Arroyo.


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who had been Aquino's defense minister and later a fierce critic of Aquino, asked the public to pray for her eternal repose. Although former Aquino interior minister and Senate minority floor leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. revealed that he had "mixed feelings" about Aquino's death, he also said that the country "shall be forever indebted to Cory for rallying the nation behind the campaign to topple dictatorial rule and restore democracy".


title: Corazon Aquino

text: Filipino citizens throughout the country wore either yellow shirts or held masses to pay tribute to Aquino. Yellow ribbons, which were a symbol of support for Aquino after the 1986 election and during the People Power Revolution, were tied along major national roads as a sign of solidarity and support for Aquino and her grieving family. On popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, Filipinos posted yellow ribbons on their accounts as tribute. Following her death, Filipino Catholics called on the Church to have Aquino canonized and declared as a saint. Days after her funeral, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that it supported calls to put the former president on the 500-Peso banknote alongside Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr., her deceased husband. The bill had previously featured a portrait of only Benigno Aquino, Jr. since 1987.