Crowds of mourners threw confetti as the body of Corazon Aquino, formerly President of the Philippines, passed through the streets of Manila on the way to the cathedral on Monday.

Ten days of national mourning were proclaimed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in honour of Mrs Aquino, the heroine of the People Power uprising in the 1980s. During the last three years of the bloody dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, she became Opposition leader after her husband Benigno’s assassination, In 1986, her supporters came on to the streets of Manila in their millions to end the Marcos regime, and Mrs Aquino, a devout Roman Catholic, was elected President, a post she held until her retirement in July 1992.

The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, paid tribute to her “immense courage in the face of adversity, and invaluable contribution to the restoration of democracy in the Philippines”. Pope Benedict, who had offered prayers publicly for her during her last illness, expressed the hope that “Heaven would reward this fine Christian stateswoman for her noble efforts to bring peace to her country”.

Mrs Aquino’s body lay in state at Manila Cathedral for three days while some 250,000 mourners filed past. At a public Requiem mass, the RC Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, said: “Thank God for Cory. She is the most appreciated President we ever had, most respected, most loved.”

Obituary