Heir of Family Who Fought for Democracy, Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino Dead at 61

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 was not afraid to take 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." 

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 at 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.

Parents Were Icons of Democracy

Aquino served as the country's president from 2010 to 2016. His administration made its mark in Philippine history by fighting corruption and poverty.

He was the son of two icons of democracy. His father, former Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr., spoke with CBN on The 700 Club back in 1981. He challenged dictator Ferdinand Marcos and 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 and restored democracy to the Philippines. The army-backed uprising became a harbinger of popular revolts against authoritarian regimes worldwide.

Aquino, who was fondly called Noynoy or Pnoy by many Filipinos, built an image of an incorruptible politician who battled poverty and frowned over excesses by the country's elites, including powerful politicians. One of his first orders that lingered throughout his presidency was to ban the use of sirens in vehicles that carried VIPs through Manila's notorious traffic jams.

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

Aquino had turbulent relations with China while serving as president. After China seized a disputed shoal in 2012 following a tense standoff in the South China Sea, he authorized the filing of a complaint before an international arbitration tribunal that questioned the validity of China's sweeping claims in the strategic waterway. The communist regime in Beijing claims virtually the entire South China Sea belongs to it.

"We will not be pushed around because we are a tiny state compared with theirs," Aquino said in June 2011. "We think we have very solid grounds to say 'do not intrude into our territory.'"

The Philippines largely won. But China refused to join in the arbitration and rejected the tribunal's 2016 ruling, which invalidated Beijing's claims based on a 1982 UN maritime treaty. Aquino's legal challenge and the eventual ruling plunged the relations between Beijing and Manila to an all-time low.

No One is Above the Law

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 just 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 as a reminder that no one is above the law.

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.

One of Aquino's major successes was the signing of a 2014 peace deal with the largest Muslim separatist rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. It eased decades of fighting in the country's south, the homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.

Aquino retained high approval ratings when his single, six-year term ended in 2016. The rise of the populist Duterte, whose deadly crackdown on illegal drugs has killed thousands of mostly petty drug suspects, was a reality check on the extent of public dissatisfaction and perceived failures during Aquino's reformist rule.

He campaigned against Duterte, warning he could be a looming dictator and could set back the democracy and economic momentum achieved in his own term.

Named One of The Most Influential People in the World in 2013

Time magazine named Aquino as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013, praising him for stabilizing a sputtering economy and for bravely confronting China over the South China Sea disputes.

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.