Aquino mourns death of journalist

Aquino mourns death of journalist

PHILIPPINES: Former Philippine president Corazon Aquino expressed sorrow on Sunday at the death of leading U.S. journalist Sandra Burton and recalled her role in pivotal events in her country's history.

"Her death is a personal loss to me," Aquino said in a statement released after a doctor in Indonesia said the former Time magazine correspondent had died of natural causes on the resort island of Bali at the age of 62.

"She is a great loss not only to Time magazine ... but most especially to the Filipino people because she was a great friend of the people," Aquino said.

Aquino recalled that Burton testified in an investigation in the Philippines into the murder of her husband, opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino in 1983.

Burton was on Benigno Aquino's plane when he returned from exile in the United States in Aug. 21, 1983. He was shot dead at the airport by soldiers of then-president Ferdinand Marcos. --AFP