PERSONAL

Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr. is know as a Filipino Hero and Martyr

Born on November 27, 1932

Birthplace is Concepcion , Tarlac, Philippines

Parents are Benigno S. Aquino, Sr. (Nationalist Speaker, Philippine Senator) and Aurora A. Aquino

Paternal grandfather is General Servillano Aquino, famed revolutionary who first fought the Spaniard and then the Americans at the turn of the century.

His brothers and sisters include: Mila Aquino Albert, Linda Aquino Martinez, Maur Aquino Lichauco, Ditas Aquino Valdez, Lupita Aquino Kashiwahara, Agapito (Butz) Aquino, Paul Aquino, Tessie Aquino Oreta.

He married Corazon Cojuanco on October 11, 1954

Ninoy and Cory have five, children, they are: Maria Elena (Ballsy) who became the wife of Eldon Cruz, Aurora Corazon (Pinky) who is married to Manuel Abellada, Benigno III (Nonoy),Victoria Elisa (Viel) who is married to Richard Joseph Dee and Kristina Bernadette (Kris) who is married to James Yap.

San Beda High School, 1948

 

Ateneo de Manila University

College of Liberal Arts (Pre-law), 1950

 

University of the Philippines

College of Law (4th Year) 

 

Harvard University

Center for International Law – Fellow

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Center for International Studies – Fellow

1950

Manila Times Newspaper Reported (at age 17) Manila Times War correspondent in Korea.

 

1952

Manila Times Foreign Correspondent in Southeast Asia (assigned to Indo-China, covered the last moment of French colonialism in Asia, at Dien Bien Phu.  He was later posted to Malaya to cover the British counter-insurgency efforts under General Templar.

 

(Journalism remained his particular vocation in spite of his entry into politics and from time to time he wrote “perspective articles” for such publications as “Foreign Affairs Quarterly” and the “Pacific Community”.)

 

1952

He agreed (while already a Senator and in the name of Journalism) to conduct a weekly television news analysis, entitled “Insight” for Channel 5, upon the urging of his former publisher of the Manila Times, Mr. Chino Roces.  He kept this up until his arrest in 1972 by the people responsible for the Martial Law regime.

 

1954

Special Assistant to President Ramon Magsaysay.  He negotiated the surrender of HUK Supremo Luis Tarux (May 16, 1954).

 

1955

Elected as youngest mayor of his hometown, Concepcion, Tarlac at the age of 22.

 

1956

Press Officer, Philippine-American Military Bases Agreement negotiations.

 

1957

Special Assistant to President Carlos P. Garcia.

 

1959

Elected as the youngest Vice-Governor of Tarlac Province at 26 years old.  He was elected Secretary General of the League of Provincial Governors and City Mayors.

 

1961

Became Governor in 1961 after the Governor’s resignation.

 

1963

Elected Governor of Tarlac Province at age 31.  He won in all 17 towns of the province, posting the highest majority ever garnered by a gubernatorial candidate in the province.  He was dubbed as the “Wonder Boy of Philippine Politics.”

 

1964

Philippine Delegate, Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA) Conference held in Korea.

 

1965

Special Assistant to President Diosdado Macapagal.  He accompanied President Macapagal in State visits to Cambodia and Indonesia.  Spokesperson of Philippine Delegation – Afro-Asian conference in Algiers, Africa.

 

1966

Project Director of Tarlac “Project Spread”.  A joint understanding of the National Economic Council (Philippine Government) and the U.S.A.I.D., which was designed to increase rural income.

 

1967

Elected as the youngest Senator of the Philippines at 35 years old as the lone opposition (Liberal Party) candidate to survive the election sweep made by President Marcos Nacionalista Party.  He was also elected as Secretary-General of the Liberal Party.

 

1968

Author of several speeches, and many articles while serving as a public servant.  These are contained in the book “A Garrison State in the Make and other Speeches” by Senator Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino, Jr. (BSAF Publication).  Senator Aquilino also authored / co-authored several bills filed in approved congress to benefit the masses.  He also authored several privilege speeches printed in the “Ninoy Aquino – Speech Series,” 1968 – 1970s.

 

1970

Resource person for the Philippines in the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London.

 

1971

Member of the Philippine Delegation of the Asian Conference on the Cambodian Question, Jakarta, Indonesia.

 

1972

Philippine Delegate to the International Conference on Japan and the Evolving world, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies of London, at Mount Fuji, Japan.  He was also the July 4^th guest speaker of Filipino communities in Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco U.S.A.

1950

Philippine Legion of Honor, Officer Degree, awarded by President Elpidio Quirino for “Meritorious Service” to the Philippines for his coverage of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to the Korean War.

 

1954

Philippine Legion of Honor, Commander degree, awarded by President Ramon Magsaysay for “exemplary meritorious service” to the Filipino people negotiating the coverage of HUK Supremo Luis Tarux.

 

1957

First Bronze Anahaw Leaf, Philippine Legion of Honor, conferred by President Ramon Magsaysay, for services in the peace and order compaign.

 

1960

Voted one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) in the field of public service.

 

1968-1971

Outstanding Senator, voted yearly by the Philippine Free Press, the Philippine leading political weekly magazine.

 

1971

Man of the Year, voted by the Philippine Free Press, citing him for the leadership he showed when his party’s leadership was bombed in Plaza Miranda, the Philippines’ equivalent to Hyde Park.  He led his party’s campaign “with courage, with distinction” despite threats to arrest him, made by then President Marcos.  He led the Liberal Party to a 6-2 victory in the Philippine Senate elections, which catapulted him to become the No. 1 presidential contender in the 1973 elections.

September 22, 1972

Ninoy was arrested, detained and imprisoned at FortBonifacio and in Laur, Nueva Ecija for 7 years and 7 months, mostly in solitary confinement.

 

April 4, 1975 – May 13, 1975

He went on a protest hunger strike while in prison.

 

May 8, 1980

Released from FortBonifacio to undergo a triple heart bypass at BaylorMedicalCenter, Dallas, Texas, USA.

 

May 13, 1980

Operated and successfully given a triple bypass in Dallas, Texas.

 

1980-1982

Fellow at HarvardUniversity’s Center for International Affairs.

 

1982-1983

Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies.

 

August 21, 1983

Assassinated at the airport seconds after disembarking in China Airlines jet from Taipei.

 

August 31, 1983

Ninoy’s funeral march from Sto. Domingo Church, Quezon City to ManilaMemorial Park, Paranaque, was the “longest funeral march in world’s history.” Around two million people joined the funeral.