The death of former President Corazon Aquino has generated renewed interest in the 1986 "People Power" uprising that brought her to power and was beamed around the globe.
Satellite TV coverage of Aquino's battle to avenge her husband's assassination and restore democracy electrified the world and generated support for her cause.
Dramatic images of the slight widow in a yellow dress leading millions of her countrymen against the corrupt dictator Ferdinand Marcos also helped inspire non-violent democratic movements across the world, say observers.
"I think that what happened in the Philippines is not being given enough credit for the overthrow of authoritarian regimes elsewhere in the world like in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet Union itself and elsewhere in Asia," said leading Asian scholar Rodolfo Severino.
"People seem to forget that this wave of enlarged freedoms was really pioneered by the Philippines," said the former diplomat and secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
CNN was just three years old when "Cory" Aquino, who died Saturday after a battle with cancer, was thrust onto the world stage by the murder of her politician husband Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino on August 21, 1983 at Manila International Airport as he was being escorted off a plane by soldiers.
Within months, American, Japanese, and European television networks established a permanent presence in the city and satellite dishes began sprouting on the roof of the historic Manila Hotel.
Aquino's widow, who returned from the United States to bury her husband still dressed in the bloodied white safari suit he wore when he was shot, became the darling of the international media, and Marcos the villain.
The liberal use of Roman Catholic symbols such as the crucifix and images of the Virgin Mary by the pro-Aquino forces made for great TV footage as protests rocked key cities.
Marcos, who ruled the Philippines for two decades, made a fatal mistake when he held snap presidential elections in February 1986 and a reluctant Aquino was persuaded to run against the man she held responsible for her husband's death.
When both sides claimed victory, a military mutiny ballooned into a full-blown rebellion against Marcos.
Aquino supporters including nuns, children, and grandmothers faced off against Marcos's soldiers, who were paralyzed into inaction when confronted by flowers, rosaries—and the presence of foreign media.
Within days, Marcos and his coterie fled to the United States after it became clear that international opinion—and diplomatic recognition—had swung in favor of a revolutionary government led by Aquino.
Aquino was famous as a democracy icon years before the world came to know of Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle in Myanmar and witnessed images of the anonymous Chinese individual standing defiantly before a tank near Tiananmen square.
"She was the template for the avenging daughter which we saw in Pakistan and Burma (Myanmar). Secondly, she highlighted the importance of women to democratization," said Bruce Gilley, an assistant professor of political science at Portland State University who specializes in Asian politics.
"Few countries democratize successfully without having a woman or women included in the democratic leadership. Women represent a break with the patriarchal traditions associated with authoritarian rule. That’s why they are so often at the head of democracy movements," he said.
The impact of "People Power" reached well beyond Asia.
In the late 1980s, democratic fever swept across Eastern Europe as the Soviet Union disintegrated. In Czechoslovakia the "Velvet Revolution" swept dissident writer Vaclav Havel to the presidency.
Havel himself has publicly cited the Philippines' example as an inspiration for democratic movements worldwide.
Satellite TV coverage of Aquino's battle to avenge her husband's assassination and restore democracy electrified the world and generated support for her cause.
Dramatic images of the slight widow in a yellow dress leading millions of her countrymen against the corrupt dictator Ferdinand Marcos also helped inspire non-violent democratic movements across the world, say observers.
"I think that what happened in the Philippines is not being given enough credit for the overthrow of authoritarian regimes elsewhere in the world like in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet Union itself and elsewhere in Asia," said leading Asian scholar Rodolfo Severino.
"People seem to forget that this wave of enlarged freedoms was really pioneered by the Philippines," said the former diplomat and secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
CNN was just three years old when "Cory" Aquino, who died Saturday after a battle with cancer, was thrust onto the world stage by the murder of her politician husband Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino on August 21, 1983 at Manila International Airport as he was being escorted off a plane by soldiers.
Within months, American, Japanese, and European television networks established a permanent presence in the city and satellite dishes began sprouting on the roof of the historic Manila Hotel.
Aquino's widow, who returned from the United States to bury her husband still dressed in the bloodied white safari suit he wore when he was shot, became the darling of the international media, and Marcos the villain.
The liberal use of Roman Catholic symbols such as the crucifix and images of the Virgin Mary by the pro-Aquino forces made for great TV footage as protests rocked key cities.
Marcos, who ruled the Philippines for two decades, made a fatal mistake when he held snap presidential elections in February 1986 and a reluctant Aquino was persuaded to run against the man she held responsible for her husband's death.
When both sides claimed victory, a military mutiny ballooned into a full-blown rebellion against Marcos.
Aquino supporters including nuns, children, and grandmothers faced off against Marcos's soldiers, who were paralyzed into inaction when confronted by flowers, rosaries—and the presence of foreign media.
Within days, Marcos and his coterie fled to the United States after it became clear that international opinion—and diplomatic recognition—had swung in favor of a revolutionary government led by Aquino.
Aquino was famous as a democracy icon years before the world came to know of Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle in Myanmar and witnessed images of the anonymous Chinese individual standing defiantly before a tank near Tiananmen square.
"She was the template for the avenging daughter which we saw in Pakistan and Burma (Myanmar). Secondly, she highlighted the importance of women to democratization," said Bruce Gilley, an assistant professor of political science at Portland State University who specializes in Asian politics.
"Few countries democratize successfully without having a woman or women included in the democratic leadership. Women represent a break with the patriarchal traditions associated with authoritarian rule. That’s why they are so often at the head of democracy movements," he said.
The impact of "People Power" reached well beyond Asia.
In the late 1980s, democratic fever swept across Eastern Europe as the Soviet Union disintegrated. In Czechoslovakia the "Velvet Revolution" swept dissident writer Vaclav Havel to the presidency.
Havel himself has publicly cited the Philippines' example as an inspiration for democratic movements worldwide.
