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Political legends and legacies are not always created or sustained by leaders who can pass the scrutiny of history with mathematical rigour. The legend and legacy of Filipino leader Corazon Aquino, who passed away in Manila at the age of 76 on August 1, should be seen in this light. That does not, however, mean that political greatness was simply thrust upon her.

A long-term test of the Corazon legacy of “people power” does not have to be solely related to her political spirit and achievements as “the leader of destiny.” In many respects, the record of her one-term presidency, from1986 to 1992, paled in comparison with the dizzy drama and promise of her rise to power. In a turn of post-modern metaphor, she soared to extra-terrestrial heights in Filipino...