SON OF DEMOCRACY | Noynoy Aquino, corruption fighter, battled tough hurdles as president

June 24, 2021 , 02:19 PM

(June 24, 2021) – Former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III died in a hospital early Thursday morning. He was 61.

The only son of the country’s democracy icons, he rose to power in 2010 on the crest of public emotion after his mother, Corazon Aquino, died of colon cancer in 2009. She was also a former president, catapulted into power in 1986 by a military-backed popular uprising against then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

The uprising against the dictator was precipitated by the murder of Aquino’s father, former senator Benigno Aquino at Manila’s airport tarmac when he returned from a three-year exile from Boston, Massachusetts in 1983.

Noynoy built an image as a corruption fighter, campaigning for the presidency in 2010 on the mantra of “Daang Matuwid,” a complete turnaround from his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s graft-saddled administration.

A namesake of his father, he was elected as the Philippines’ 15th president, steering the country’s economy towards a path of higher growth.

He was instrumental in lifting the country from the long history of junk-debt status. In the six years he was leader, the economy grew at an average of 6.0%, the highest since the 1970s.

Aquino also took a tougher line on tax evaders and launched criminal cases against former officials, including Macapagal-Arroyo, her family, and allies.

It was during his time when the Philippines filed an arbitration case against China after it seized control of Scarborough Shoal, preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing traditional fishing grounds in the South China Sea.

The international tribunal at The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines just days after he handed over power to President Rodrigo Duterte, a landmark legal victory.

Aquino was born on February 8, 1960, part of a wealthy, landed elite, and politically powerful clan. He has four sisters, including Kris Aquino, a popular but controversial film and television personality.

Aquino was known to often wear loose shirts and baggy pants and had made no effort to hide his balding head. He was the first president in the post-Marcos period to deliver speeches in Tagalog.

He remained a bachelor throughout his life despite being linked at various times to movie stars, journalists, and other celebrities. A heavy smoker, he drove fancy cars, buying a Porsche early in his presidency.

He was wounded during an attempted military coup in 1987 when his mother was president. Three of his bodyguards were killed and he was shot five times, living with a piece of shrapnel in his body

Aquino served as congressman for his home province in Tarlac and was a senator before he was elected president.

His term was marred by crisis after crisis.

Several Hong Kong tourists were killed when police officers botched a bus hostage-taking by a dismissed police officer at Manila’s Rizal Park.

He had to deal with a brief Muslim rebellion by a former governor in Zamboanga and a cross-border problem when armed men from the southern Philippines tried to invade the eastern Malaysia state of Sabah.

Aquino faced his toughest crisis in November 2013, when the most powerful storm to hit the country in years, Typhoon Yolanda, devastated the country’s belly, killing more than 7,000 people and leaving more than 200,000 homeless.

His popularity also suffered a steep decline after 44 members of an elite police commando unit died in an encounter with Islamist militants in Mamasapano, Maguindanao during an operation to capture a Malaysian terrorist.

Despite his Mr. Clean image, Aquino’s administration was also tainted by scandals over several lawmakers’ misuse of public funds.

Aquino quietly returned to private life after his presidency ended in June 2016 and rarely made public appearances.

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