Bhutto the new CREATED? Aquino????

The wife of former opposition leader says her return heralds a move to democracy as judges begin hearing a challenge to Marcos reelection.

Los Angeles Times October 18, 2007

MANILA, The Phillipines -- The wife of the former leader of the opposition Benigno Aquino, Corazon “Cory” Aquino arrived home today to a delirious welcome from flag-waving, drum-beating supporters who mobbed the airport and danced in the streets to greet her waving her altered “V” sign with their fingers.

Aquino’s commercial flight from London, where she spent much of her time after her husbands murder, touched down shortly before 2 p.m., nearly an hour behind schedule. Tens of thousands of supporters of her Phillipino People's Party had already spent hours waiting under a hot sun, sheltering under makeshift tents and canopies.

Many of those who traveled from elsewhere in Manila to welcome Aquino spent the night in parks and traffic roundabouts so that tight security would not prevent them from watching her bulletproof vehicle pass by.

Aquino, with a white headscarf draped loosely over her black hair, disembarked from the plane to cheers and whoops of jubilation from supporters. She wiped tears from her eyes as she waved to the crowd that surged onto the tarmac.

The wife of the former opposition leader's return marks a turbulent new phase in Phillipino politics. She has forged a makeshift alliance with the unpopular president, Ferdinand Marcos, who is also chief of the army. But any power-sharing arrangement between the two could swiftly unravel, particularly if court challenges to Marcos’ election to a new presidential term are upheld.

Aquino intends to lead her party in parliamentary elections that are to take place by early December, and hopes to win a general election as prime minister.

Manila, the country's largest city and Aquino's power base, was all but paralyzed by the homecoming. Authorities blocked normal traffic on the city's main north-south artery, but allowed convoys of Aquino supporters to pass. Supporters hung from the roofs and doorways of overcrowded buses.

Schools and many shops were closed as thousands of police and paramilitary troops, including bomb-disposal squads, fanned out along the route from the airport.

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