MANILA - Former Philippine president Corazon Aquino's cancer has spread from her colon to her liver and her condition is so delicate that she cannot undergo chemotherapy, her son said yesterday.

"Initially it was in the colon but now it has spread to the liver," said Aquino's son, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr.

"Her weakened condition does not allow chemotherapy," he said, adding that the 76-year-old former leader, who has been in hospital for a month, was being fed intravenously.

"We have reached the point where you're not sure if the intervention will help or worsen the condition," he told reporters.

Special prayers have been said throughout this largely Roman Catholic country on behalf of Aquino, who is held in high regard as a symbol of democracy.

Aquino, the widow of assassinated opposition leader Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino, was propelled into the spotlight in 1986 when she headed a massive "people power" movement that toppled late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The housewife-turned-president went on to restore democracy and rewrite the country's constitution.

Over the past four weeks, Aquino's friends and former officials have been rallying support for the family.*AFP

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