Aquino apologizes to Estrada -- or not

MANILA, Philippines, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Corazon Aquino has upset some allies by apologizing to another former president of the Philippines, Joseph Estrada, officials said.

Her son, Sen. Benedict Aquino III, claims that his mother's apparent apology to Estrada was a joke.

But Sen. Richard Gordon told the Philippines Star that he now thinks of Aquino as "Sorry Aquino."

Aquino, now 75 and suffering from colon cancer, became a political leader in the opposition to President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s after her husband, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., was assassinated. She was the country's first woman president, serving from 1986 to 1992.

"I am quite disappointed," Gordon said. "I don't agree with the fact that you have to say sorry to him. I really feel for Cory because she is sick right now, but I think she overstated the point."

Aquino was involved in replacing Estrada with the current president, Gloria Arroyo, in 2001. She has since become an active opponent of Arroyo.