Corazon C. Aquino, February 25, 1986:
At last, we are home. Let us remember the day, February 25, 1986; the time, nine in the evening; he occasion, the coming of freedom.
Freedom from twenty years of dictatorship, twenty years of oppression, hardship, repression, injustice, corruption, greed, waste and near despair — ended. Ended by a revolution of peace, prayers, Rosaries, radios, and above all, raw human courage.
It is true: the Filipino is brave, the Filipino is honourable, the Filipino is great.
I have never felt prouder to be a Filipino. I am sure I share this feeling with millions of Filipinos. I am told that in other cities, when they learn that you are a Filipino, they shake your hand and praise the nobility of your race. In the streets of New York, I am told that Filipinos are being stopped and congratulated for moral courage as a people. The Filipino stands proud before the whole world.
What a difference a couple of decades make.
