Speech
of
Her Excellency Corazon C. Aquino
On her Inauguration as President of the Philippines
[Delivered at Club Filipino, San Juan on February 25, 1986]
My brothers and sisters:
I am grateful for the authority you have given me today. And I promise to offer all that I can do to serve you.
It is fitting and proper that, as our
people lost their rights and liberties at midnight fourteen years ago,
the people should formally recover those lost rights and liberties in
the full light of day.
Ninoy believed that only the united
strength of the Filipino people would suffice to overturn a tyranny so
evil and so well-organized. The brutal murder of Ninoy created that
unity in strength that has come to be known as “Lakas ng Bayan”–people
power.
People power shattered the dictatorship,
protected those in the military that chose freedom, and today, has
established a government dedicated to this protection and meaningful
fulfillment of our rights and liberties.
We became exiles, we Filipinos who are at home only in freedom, when Marcos destroyed the Republic fourteen years ago.
Now, by God’s grace and the power of the people, we are free again.
We want to make a special appeal to
those who have not yet joined us. Do not engage in any further action
against the people and instead, be among those who will lend a hand to
rebuild the country.
Source: Javante-De Dios, Daroy, Kalaw-Tirol (1988). Dictatorship and Revolution. Conspectus Foundation Inc.; pp. 761-762 via http://www.gov.ph/1986/02/25/inaugural-speech-of-president-corazon-c-aquino-on-february-25-1986/
