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The image of Ninoy’s battered body destroyed the hopes of many Filipinos. To them, Ninoy was the way, the answer that had eluded them for so long. Now their dreams lay with him, a victim of injustice.

But always, from the darkness springs forth light, from the ashes of the former comes a stronger and more resilient embodiment.

Hope came in the form of the grieving widow Corazon Aquino. "Cory," as she was more popularly known, was in Boston with her children when the incident took place.

She had been put in the spotlight once before, as the caring wife who had insured Ninoy’s well being while he was incarcerated. Now she would be the one who would continue her husband’s crusade.

The 1984 assembly elections came, with Cory campaigning vigorously for the opposition. Once again the Marcos machinery, despite active participation from many civic groups, manipulated the polls in their favor. The elections were widely seen as a sham, a show put up to legitimize the Marcos regime.

The strain that had been put into the electoral process forced Marcos to call the infamous Snap Elections of 1986. The opposition needed a strong candidate, and Cory was just the person they needed.

Cory had the personality that set her apart from most politicians. She was the woman totally dedicated so dismantling the evil that the Marcos regime had stood for. People believed that she was the person who could unify the opposition.

She herself believed that she was not ready for the position. In fact, she had earlier denied being the opposition’s standard-bearer. However, she steadily grew into the role. It bolstered her heroine’s image, and she became a symbol for her martyred husband’s idealism – the selfless "good" against the evil that was Ferdinand Marcos.

On December 3^rd, Cory officially challenged Marcos for the presidency. Her conditions for running had been met. An early election had been called, and 1 million signatures had been gathered in a petition for her candidacy. She quickly hit the campaign trail with her mother-in-law. IT was her first campaign…and it was to be Marcos’ last.

Cory was the "Anti-Marcos." She was the Christian symbol of morality. She would constantly refer to her husband’s call for National reconciliation. She would often tell her friends that in time of important decisions, she would often as herself, "what would Ninoy have done?"

History had well documented the events that transpired during the Snap Elections. It is the turning point in which the country freed itself from the clutches of an evil dictator. And it is a turning point which a gentle housewife became the leader of nation.