Philippine Ex-President Aquino In Stable Condition

MANILA, Philippines – Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, who has cancer, left the intensive care unit and was in stable condition, her spokeswoman said Thursday, as prayers for her recovery poured in from friends and even political enemies. The 76-year-old democracy icon was admitted to the ICU of the Makati Medical Center last week after she stopped eating, spokeswoman Deedee Sytangco said. "She's stable, and she's conscious," Sytangco told The Associated Press. She refused to provide details and Aquino's family appealed for "solitude and privacy." Sytangco said Aquino was moved to a regular room. The former president was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer last year. She had been undergoing chemotherapy but was no longer receiving treatment, Sytangco said. In a statement on behalf of the family, Aquino's son, Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, thanked Filipinos for their prayers and the "outpouring of love and concern for our mother." "She has always and will be a woman of faith, a fighter, a source of hope and inspiration for all of us, not just her family, but our entire nation as well," the statement said. "Just like she has always taught us by her life's example, we entrust everything to God." Aquino was a humble homemaker propelled to politics by the 1983 assassination of her husband, opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. She later led a peaceful uprising in 1986 that toppled late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and became a harbinger of nonviolent protests around the world. (Cont)
Source: The Associated Press, Teresa Cerojano
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