President Marcos later granted Senator Aquino permission to travel to the United States for a much-needed heart operation on May 8, 1980. Aquino would return to the Philippines on August 21, 1983, only to be assassinated at the tarmac of the airport now bearing his name. The President in November 1985 later called for a snap election, and a widowed Corazon Aquino, petitioned by the masses, to run against him under a united opposition. Gazmin was still on assignment in Mindanao when the People Power Revolution overthrew the Marcos government and installed Corazon Aquino as the 11th President on February 25, 1986.