Twenty-three years after she was sworn in as President, Corazon Aquino Wednesday showed a glimpse of how it was like going against the machos in Philippine politics?not only from dictator Ferdinand Marcos but from the male-dominated opposition as well.

?I did not realize that all these men who were meeting with me had already laid claim on what I can do and what I can?t do,? Aquino said. ?I got very angry with myself.?

She referred to the anti-Marcos opposition that her husband, former Sen. Benigno ?Ninoy? Aquino Jr., had led until he was shot and killed on Aug. 21, 1983. His death unwittingly pushed his widow into the political limelight.

Aquino narrated her experiences as a housewife and mother who became a reluctant candidate against Marcos in 1986 during the launching of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Scholarship Program at De La Salle University (DLSU) on Taft Avenue, Manila.

DLSU scholarship

Clad in her signature yellow, Aquino said that while she obeyed her husband and ?boss,? there were times when he allowed her to do what she wanted.

A partnership of DLSU and the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation, the scholarship grants full tuition and fees to 12 poor students who excel in academics and leadership. The program will be available starting school year 2009-10.

The scholarship was launched in time for the 23rd anniversary of the EDSA I People Power uprising, the four-day revolution that culminated with the toppling of the Marcos dictatorship. Marcos was replaced by Aquino, who served as President until 1992.

?There are many who said I could have done more (as President). I could have done more if I didn?t have to tackle seven coup attempts,? she said.

Aquino said improvements in the economy and other gains went to waste because of the ambition of some people.

Ninoy?s thing

Reiterating what she had been saying all along, Aquino said she never wanted to be in politics. ?That was Ninoy?s thing,? she said.

When her husband was killed, she became a rallying figure in the mass protest against Marcos, a ?neutral? personality who graced the activities of all anti-Marcos groups, which included the fractious political opposition.

There were offers and invitations to join a party. Once, she was offered the position of ?vice president for Central Luzon? by the Unido (United Democratic Opposition), but she declined.

She changed her mind when the ?Convenor Group? was initiated by former Supreme Court Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma. By that time, it was apparent that the splintered opposition needed to unite if it wanted to beat Marcos in the elections.

Unido invite

She accepted an invitation by Unido chair Salvador ?Doy? Laurel to attend the Unido convention, a decision that was opposed by the non-Unido male politicians.

?It was just beyond me. Who are these men who can tell me what to do and what not to do?? she recalled.

The late Sen. Lorenzo Tañada, who was known as the Grand Old Man of the Opposition, smoothed out her ruffled feelings. By then, Aquino said she could not control her tears.

She said the Convenor Group was initiated to prepare the opposition to choose one candidate in case Marcos would call for a snap presidential elections.

By then, however, the late newspaper publisher Joaquin ?Chino? Roces had launched a campaign to raise one million signatures for Aquino to run for President.

?Naku, Cory, lagot ka na (Cory, now you?re doomed),? Aquino recalled.

She maintained that she never wanted to run, that politics was not her thing. She even warned friends who affixed their signatures to forget their friendship.

?That woman?

When Aquino finally cast her hat into the political ring, Marcos and his wife, Imelda, mocked her lack of experience. ?That woman,? Imelda would say in the rallies.

?She?s just a housewife. Walang alam (She knows nothing),? Marcos also said, echoing virtually the sentiments that the male politicians in the opposition had of her in the months following her husband?s death.

The woman who broke the mold of a housewife and mother turned out to be an astute and insightful politician during the campaign.

When it was clear that Marcos had cheated in the elections and that Aquino would lose in the count, she told the political leaders she wanted to hold a rally.

Their advice: No one holds a political rally after an election.

The stubborn Aquino insisted, saying that she wanted it at the Luneta, with maybe 500,000 people.

?If people will attend, that means they want to do something. If none showed up, then we can go quietly back to our lives,? she recalled herself telling the political leaders.

Million-strong

About a million turned up at the Luneta, the biggest post-election rally ever in Philippine history.

There, Aquino called for boycott of pro-Marcos companies, like San Miguel Corp., and the pro-Marcos newspapers. She pursued the campaign outside Manila.

When the People Power Revolution broke out on EDSA on Feb. 22, 1986, Aquino was in Cebu City. Three days later, she was sworn in as the first woman President of the Philippines.