Former Phillipine President Aquino dead at 76

(CNN) - Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, a political novice whose "People Power" movement pushed out longtime strongman Ferdinand Marcos less than three years after her husband's assassination, has died at age 76, her family announced Saturday.

Aquino had been battling colon cancer for more than a year and died of cardio-respiratory arrest early Saturday morning, said Mai Mislang, a spokeswoman for her son, Philippine Sen. Benigno Aquino III.

Aquino had not been involved in politics before her husband, opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., was gunned down at Manila's airport in August 1983. The political novice took over the leadership of her husband's movement after his death and challenged Marcos in a 1986 election.