Who is the President known as PNoy?
The country’s former leader died today according to reports by national media.
According to the official website of the Senate of the Philippines, the former President was born Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino III.
He was scion to one of the biggest political names in the country. Father was former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., who rose to national prominence for being the face of the opposition against the Marcos dictatorship. Mother was former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, an icon of democracy who ran against President Marcos in the 1986 Snap Elections.
In 1998, Noynoy he ran for a seat in the House of Representatives and won. He later served as Congressman of the 2nd District of Tarlac until 2007, the website from the Senate of the Philippines said.
He became Deputy House Speaker of Luzon in 2004 but he relinquished the post when he joined leaders of the Liberal Party (LP) in calling for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the height of the “Hello Garci” scandal.
In May 2007, he ran for Senator and won, placing 6th in the national elections. He chairs the Senate Committee on Local Government, and is also the vice-chairperson of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights. He had been determined to ensure that his key legislative initiatives would bear fruit and to see them through until the end of his term.
He ran in 2010 as President and won against rivals like Gilberto Teodoro, Joseph Estrada, and Manny Villar.
Noynoy’s term was marked with controversial PDAF/DAP scam with P10 billion worth of funds defrauded, the SAF44 which killed 44 members of the Special Action Force because of apparent incompetence by those above the chain of command, and the bungling of the disaster relief operations during Yolanda.
On the other hand, supporters praised the former President for economic reforms initiated under his term.
