Aquino moved quickly to tackle the issue of the US$26 billion foreign debt incurred by her predecessor, deciding to honor all the debts that were incurred previously under different administrations instead of repudiating it; her decision proved to be unpopular but Aquino defended it, saying that it was the most practical move and choice to make as it was crucial for the country at that time to regain the confidence of investors and the international community in the Philippine economy.

Since 1986, the Aquino administration has paid off $4 billion of the country's outstanding debts to regain good international credit ratings and attract the attention of future markets.

[6] Aquino's new government was met with criticism from Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Vice President Salvador Laurel; constitutionalist and retired Supreme Court Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma also vehemently opposed the move.

[11] Likewise, Aquino closed down the Marcos-dominated Batasang Pambansa to prevent the new Marcos loyalist opposition from undermining her democratic reforms, and reorganized the membership of the Supreme Court to restore its independence.

[13] On February 2, 1987, the new Constitution of the Philippines, which put strong emphasis on civil liberties, human rights and social justice, was overwhelmingly approved by the Filipino people.

On January 22, 1987, agrarian workers and farmers marched to the historic Mendiola Street near Malacañan Palace to demand genuine land reform from Aquino's administration.

This tragic incident led some prominent members of the Aquino Cabinet like the nationalist and progressive senator Jose W. Diokno to quit from their government posts.

Though Aquino did not have any personal and official involvement with the drastic actions taken by some police elements, her administration has been faulted since then for failing to solve land disputes in the country.

[15] Corporate landowners were also allowed under the law to "voluntarily divest a proportion of their capital stock, equity or participation in favor of their workers or other qualified beneficiaries", in lieu of turning over their land to the government for redistribution.

"[17] Despite the implementation of CARP, Aquino was not spared from the controversies that eventually centered on Hacienda Luisita, a 6,453-hectare (15,950-acre) estate located in the province of Tarlac, which was a shared inheritance among the Cojuangco clan.

[18] The arrangement remained in force until 2006, when the Department of Agrarian Reform revoked the stock distribution scheme adopted in Hacienda Luisita, and ordered instead the redistribution of a large portion of the property to the tenant-farmers.

[18] Shortly after assuming the presidency, Aquino offered peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA) and released all political prisoners, including CPP leader Jose Maria Sison.

[21] When Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986, ₱31 billion, slightly more than 25 percent of the government's budget, was allocated to public sector enterprises—government-owned or government-controlled corporations—in the form of equity infusions, subsidies, and loans.

[28] As part of Aquino's revitalized rural electrification program, Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost island province of the Philippines, started its regular 24-hour power service in 1989.

Volcanic earthquakes and heavy rain, lightning and thunder from Typhoon Yunya passing over northern Luzon made Black Saturday a 36-hour nightmare.

By the morning of June 16, when the volcano's fury subsided, Subic Bay, once one of the most beautiful and well-maintained Navy bases in the Pacific, lay buried under a foot of rain-soaked, sandy ash.

Finally on December 27, Aquino, who had previously fought to delay the U.S. pullout to cushion the country's battered economy, issued a formal notice for the U.S. to leave by the end of 1992.

Aquino and Gorbachev agreed that the Philippines and the Soviet Union established the two-nation economic ties and to promote their reforms based on the perestroika and glasnost systems paved their way to democracy, it also includes a Philippine–Soviet friendship.

Later, she went to South Korea between 1986 and 1988, for separate meetings with presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo in relation to Philippine–South Korean economic, social and cultural ties.

Aquino made her first state visits in Southeast Asia; she went to Singapore, then to Indonesia, in August 1986, for separate meetings with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Indonesian President Suharto in order to build trade and economic ties between the three countries.

A significant number of the military participants in these attempts belonged to the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) led by Gringo Honasan, while others were identified loyalists to former president Ferdinand Marcos, who had been deposed in February 1986.

Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos and AFP Chief-of-Staff Renato de Villa monitored the crises from Camp Crame, headquarters of the Philippine Constabulary.

Operation "Classic Resolve" involved the use of U.S. airpower from the aircraft carriers Midway and Enterprise (CVN-65), and F-4 Phantom II fighters from Clark Air Base.

[31]: 470  In response, the Davide Commission recommended several short-term and long-term counter-measures, including the establishment of a civilian national police force, a crackdown on corruption in the military, a performance review of appointive government officials, reforms in the process of military promotions, a review of election laws in time for the 1992 presidential elections, and a definitive statement on the part of Aquino on whether she intended to run for re-election in 1992.

Beltran, who openly expressed his belief that the President was lacking in competence, countered that his words were not meant to be taken literally, but Aquino still pursued the case against him and the STAR's editor-in-chief Maximo Soliven.

On October 22, 1992, the court ruled in Aquino's favor, sentencing the columnist and his editor to 2 years of imprisonment and ordering them to pay 2 million pesos in moral damages.

[37] According to David Sanger of the New Straits Times, the Aquino administration knew for years that country's power plants were failing, but did not act to solve the problem.

Initially, she named Ramon V. Mitra, a friend of her husband Ninoy and then Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives, as her candidate for the presidential race in 1992.

She instead threw her support behind the candidacy of her defense secretary and EDSA Revolution hero, General Fidel V. Ramos, who constantly stood by and defended her government from the various coup attempts and rebellions that were launched against her.

As a final gesture as president, she rode the presidential limousine to the event and later left the venue aboard a Toyota sedan, a gift from her siblings, which was a strong symbol of her return to private life as "Citizen Cory".