Corazon Aquino, who ousted one of the 20th century?s most corrupt dictators, Ferdinand Marcos, is suffering from colon cancer. The 75-year-old was diagnosed with the disease two weeks ago. Aquino, known as Cory to millions of Filipinos, was president from 1986 to 1992. However, she is remembered, more than two decades later, as the slim woman in yellow who led the "People Power" revolution that toppled dictator . The tumultuous events of those weeks in 1986, which culminated when up to 1 million people waving rosaries and flowers stopped tanks advancing towards Aquino-backed army rebels, became a fairy-tale revolution that gripped the world.

When a bewildered Marcos and his wife Imelda fled the nation, it set a stirring precedent for dissidents everywhere, from South Africa to South America to Pakistan. Aquino was hailed as a modern-day Joan of Arc.

Inevitably, her presidency was less successful than the revolution. Aquino was much lauded for her courage, but rarely seemed able to get on top of ruling the country. "I have not always won but ... I never shirked a fight," she said in 1992 before handing power to her successor, Fidel Ramos.

A devout Catholic, she often turned to her faith to steer her through difficult times. Aquino seems frail now, but is still game for a fight when she thinks it necessary. She brought half a million people onto the street in the early 1990s when her successor Ramos flirted with the idea of trying to extend his term in office. She was involved in the protests that brought an end to the presidency of Joseph Estrada in 2001 and has supported the campaign to remove current president Arroyo.