MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE) The condition of former Philippine president Corazon Aquino, in hospital for colon cancer, has deteriorated, her daughter said in a televised interview Monday.

Prayers have been said across this mostly Catholic Southeast Asian nation for Aquino, 76, who has been hospitalized for the past month.

"This is the hardest time for all of us," Kristina Bernadette Aquino told ABS-CBN television.

Aquino's daughter wept as she outlined her mother's condition.

"She is in pain already, so please pray for her so that it could be lessened.?

"We don't know how many more hours, days, and weeks God will give her, but please help us pray that my Mom won't suffer too much pain," she said.

"If I will not be in my shows in the following weeks or months, it's because I want to be with her,? said Kris, trying hard not to break down.

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, meanwhile, said a series of Masses will start on Monday for the "speedy and ultimate" recovery of Aquino.

Lim said Masses will be said daily at 12:15 p.m. until Friday at the Bulwagang Antonio Villegas at Manila City Hall.

"She (Aquino) gave us our democracy and served the country without any accusation of anomaly. So I hope we would always include her in our prayers," the mayor said during the regular People's Day at City Hall.

The former president has been at Makati Medical Center for a month now since her doctors ordered her confinement to address nutritional needs. She is being fed intravenously.

Aquino, the widow of assassinated opposition leader Benigno 'Ninoy" Aquino, was propelled into the spotlight in 1986 when she headed a massive "people power" movement that toppled late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The then-housewife who reluctantly became president went on to restore democracy and rewrite the country's constitution.

Over the past four weeks, Aquino's friends and former officials have been rallying support for the family, which has appealed for the public to give them private space.

A spokeswoman for the family earlier said Aquino had given up all medical intervention including chemotherapy and was leaving her fate to God.