MANILA, (Reuters) – Former President Corazon Aquino, whose “people power” revolution swept dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines, died yesterday after a 16-month  battle against colon cancer, her family said. She was 76.

Aquino was diagnosed with the disease in March 2008 but kept  up public appearances this year. A devout Catholic, she was a  regular at weekend mass until shortly before being admitted to  hospital in late June.

“Our mother peacefully passed away at 3:18 a.m. (1918 GMT  Friday) of cardio-respiratory arrest,” her son, Senator Benigno  Aquino Jr., told reporters in Manila.

Aquino, known as Cory to millions of Filipinos, was  president from 1986 to 1992 and will be best remembered as the  slim woman in yellow who deposed Marcos in 1986.

The tumultuous events of those weeks reached a crescendo  when up to 1 million people waving rosaries and flowers stopped  tanks advancing towards Aquino-backed army rebels.

When a bewildered Marcos and his wife Imelda fled the  country, it set a precedent for dissidents from South Africa to  South America and Pakistan. Aquino was hailed by many as a  modern-day Joan of Arc.

“She would have wanted us to thank each and every one of you  for all the prayers and your continuous love and support. It was  her wish for all of us to pray for one another and for our  country,” Aquino Jr said.

Cory was a reluctant leader. She shed the housewife’s apron  only after her politician husband, opposition leader Benigno,  was assassinated at Manila’s international airport in 1983 on  his return from exile in the United States.

Accusing Marcos of ordering the murder, Aquino led protest  marches but hesitated when an election was called in 1986.
“What on earth do I know about being president?,” she said  before taking up the challenge to run against Marcos.

Inevitably, her presidency was less successful than the  revolution, with a series of coup attempts by the military  keeping the administration hamstrung.
Aquino was lauded for her courage but the spectre of army  intervention haunted her entire rule. Natural disasters,  including Mount Pinatubo’s huge volcanic eruption in 1991,  severely battered the economy.

Aquino often turned to her faith to steer her through  difficult times.
“There was never any moment that I doubted God would help  … If it was time to die, so be it,” she said when rebel  mortars pounded the presidential palace in 1987.

“I have not always won but … I never shirked a fight,” she  said in 1992 before handing power over to her successor, former  defence minister Fidel Ramos.
She oversaw the writing of a new constitution which limited  a president’s time in office to one six-year term.