Former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino sparked the nation into action, challenged the powers that be in her time, and helped in bringing back freedom and democracy to the country, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said on Thursday.

Enrile, a former defense minister of the late President Ferdinand Marcos and briefly held the same post during the revolutionary government of Aquino after the fall of Marcos in 1986, gave the brief statement during a regular press briefing at the Senate on Thursday.

People power at EDSA helped Enrile and then Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, deputy chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), in ousting Marcos from Malacanang and eventually installed Mrs. Aquino in the presidency.

Former President Aquino remains confined at the Makati Medical Center where she is battling colon cancer.

In a related development, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. praised the former President as a leader who faithfully and selflessly served her country as he joined fellow Filipinos in praying for her steady recovery from her illness.

Pimentel said Mrs. Aquino epitomized hope, sincerity, and moral courage when she discharged the role that fate assigned to her upon the assassination of her husband, the late Sen. Benigno ‘’Ninoy’’ Aquino Jr.

He said he saw how Mrs. Aquino accepted the challenge of leading the fight against the Marcos authoritarian regime without any hesitation but with personal conviction.

“Wshall be forever indebted to Cory for rallying the nation behind the campaign to topple dictatorial rule and restore democracy unmindful of the risks and personal sacrifices that she faced during those turbulent days," said Pimentel who served as interior and local government secretary and chief negotiator with Moro rebels' to Cory during her presidency.

It was to Pimentel that Cory entrusted the task of replacing overstaying local government executives, including political warlords and close associates of Marcos, who were then actively involved in destabilizing the fledgling Aquino government.

The senator from Cagayan de Oro City said that when he spearheaded the enactment of the Local Government during the 8th Congress, Cory wholeheartedly supported the landmark legislation despite the fact that this would result in the diminution of substantial powers of the presidency as these were devolved to local government units

"Cory willingly gave up those powers. By that magnanimous deed, she showed that she was never greedy for power. And also, nobody can accuse her of having stolen anything or enriched herself in office," Pimentel said. (Mario Casayuran)