On February 8, 1960, the only son of Benigno Servillano Aquino, Jr. and Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino was born. He was named Benigno Simeon III, after his father and grandfather. He has two older sisters, Maria Elena “Ballsy” and Aurora Corazon “Pinky” and two younger sisters, Victoria Eliza “Viel” and Kristina Bernadette “Kris”, who is also a popular television personality.
Ateneo De Manila University was his second home. He went there for his primary, secondary and college education. He finished his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1981.
Noynoy was born in politics. His family, on both sides of his father and mother are veterans in the arena. His great grandfather Servillano worked for Emilio Aguinaldo who was the first President of the Philippines. His grandfather Benigno Sr. was the Vice President of the third President, Jose P. Laurel. His father Ninoy, a journal at heart, was eventually veered into politics. He covered various political issues in while still in school and was eventually chosen by then President Ramon Magsaysay to negotiate with the rebel group Hukbo Ng Bayan Laban Sa Mga Hapon (HukBaLaHap), which he got to surrender. A year later, he became the Mayor of his hometown, Concepcion in Tarlac, at twenty-two years of age. He climbed his way up the political ladder moving on to be the Vice Governor of Tarlac, Governor, Presidential Adviser on Defense Affairs and finally a Senator.
His mother, fondly known as Cory, is from a family of wealthy landowner-politicians. She went to St. Scholatisca’s College, Manila for her primary and secondary education with her sisters Josephine and Teresita. She went to the United States for college after the Japanese broke into the country. She came back to the Philippines to take up law in Far Eastern University but married Ninoy a year later and never finished.
Ninoy was a Senator when Ferdinand E. Marcos was president and he was a very outspoken critic of the latter. He was deemed as the most likely successor of Marcos but failed to file for candidacy after Marcos declared Martial Law just before his second term ended and nullified the Constitution. He had Ninoy arrested and sentenced to death. While in prison, he fell ill and was exiled to the United States with his family. On the 21st of August in 1983, Ninoy decided to come back by himself to the Philippines. He was assassinated after a couple of steps down the stairs from the plane. A couple of days later, Cory came back to bury her husband and lead a revolution to overthrow Marcos and give the power back to the people. After a series of anomalies in a snap election, a slew of disloyalties among Marcos’s men, and immeasurable violence among divided people, Cory became the first woman president of the Philippines.
Despite being born to a political family, Noynoy’s career began in business. He worked in advertising and marketing for several prominent multinational and local brands. He also worked for some of their family businesses.
His first imprint on political history was when he braved the frontlines of the coup d’état led by rebel soldiers during the first couple of months of his mother’s presidency. He was within a considerable distance from the Malacañang Palace when the soldiers fired at him, killing his bodyguards and getting himself shot five times.
He did not dive into politics until 1998 when he was elected as the representative of the Second District of Tarlac in Congress. He served three consecutive terms in numerous committees. In 2007, he was elected senator. He is currently running for president in the upcoming elections.
A perpetual bachelor, Noynoy lived with his mother until she succumbed to colon cancer in August 1, 2009. Although he has been linked to several popular personalities, he has never been married. He is currently dating Councilor Shalani Soledad of the Second District of Valenzuela.