Former Philippines leader was a scion for democracy
MANILA, Philippines — Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, the son of pro-democracy icons who helped topple dictator Ferdinand Marcos and a defender of good governance who took China’s sweeping territorial claims to an international court, has died. He was 61.
Aquino’s family told a news conference that he died in his sleep early Thursday due to “renal failure secondary to diabetes.” A former Cabinet official, Rogelio Singson, said Aquino had been undergoing dialysis and was preparing for a kidney transplant.
“Mission accomplished Noy, be happy now with Dad and Mom,” said Pinky Aquino-Abellada, a sister of the late president, using his nickname and struggling to hold back her tears.
Condolences poured in from politicians led by President Rodrigo Duterte and others, including the dominant Catholic Church and Sen. Imee Marcos, a daughter of the late dictator. Philippine flags were lowered to half-staff on government buildings.
“We are saddened by President Aquino’s passing and will always be thankful for our partnership,” U.S. Embassy Charge d’ Affaires John Law said in a statement.
Aquino, who served as president from 2010 to 2016, was the heir of a family that has been regarded as a bulwark against authoritarianism in the Philippines.
His father, former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., was assassinated in 1983 while under military custody at the Manila international airport, which now bears his name. His mother, Corazon Aquino, led the 1986 “people power” revolt that ousted Marcos. The army-backed uprising became a harbinger of popular revolts against authoritarian regimes worldwide.
A scion of a wealthy land-owning political clan in the northern Philippines, Aquino built an image of an incorruptible politician who battled poverty and frowned over excesses by the country’s elites, including powerful politicians.
Born in 1960 as the third of five children, Aquino never married and had no children. An economics graduate, he pursued business opportunities before entering politics.
He won a seat in the House of Representatives in 1998, where he served until 2007, then successfully ran for the Senate. Aquino announced his presidential campaign in September 2009, saying
he was answering the call of the people to continue his mother’s legacy. She had died weeks earlier of colon cancer.
He won with a battle cry “without the corrupt, there won’t be poor people.” He called ordinary Filipinos his “boss” and offered himself as their servant. Friends said he often carried a copy of the Philippine Constitution in his pocket, a reflection of his steadfast belief that no one is above the law.
Public expectations of Aquino were high. While he moved against corruption — detaining predecessor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and three powerful senators — and initiated anti-poverty programs, the deep-seated inequalities and weak institutions in the Southeast Asian nation wracked by decades-old communist and Muslim insurgencies remained too daunting.
Under Aquino, the government expanded a program that provides cash dole-outs to the poorest in exchange for commitments by parents to send children to school. Big business, meanwhile, benefited from government partnership deals that allowed them to finance major infrastructure projects such as highways and airports for long-term gain.
After leaving office, Aquino stayed away from politics and the public eye.
He is survived by four sisters. His cremated remains are to be taken Friday to a Roman Catholic church at Ateneo de Manila University, his former school, for a daylong public visitation subject to coronavirus safeguards before a planned weekend interment, organizers said.