Benigno Simeón Cojuangco Aquino III (born February 8, 1960), popularly known as Noynoy Aquino, is a Philippine statesman. The only son of Benigno Aquino, Jr., a Senator imprisoned (and later assassinated) for opposing the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Corazon Aquino, who served as President from 1986 to 1992 following the overthrow of Marcos. Aquino was named after his father and his grandfather, Benigno Aquino, Sr., a one-time Speaker of the House of Representatives. He is also the brother of TV host and actress Kris Aquino.
Barred by term limits from seeking a fourth term as the Representative for the second district of Tarlac province, Aquino was elected to the Senate in the May 14, 2007 midterm elections under the banner of the Genuine Opposition (GO), a coalition comprising a number of parties, including his own Liberal Party, seeking curb attempts by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to amend the Constitution. In his political ads, he was endorsed by younger sister, TV host Kris Aquino, and mother, former President Corazon Aquino. Although a devout Roman Catholic, he was endorsed by one of the largest Protestant churches in the Philippines, the Jesus is Lord movement, whose leader, Eddie Villanueva, said that their endorsed candidates, including Aquino, had demonstrated God-fearing character, competence, integrity, courage, compassion for the poor, and patriotism, and lived a principled existence. With more than 14.3 million votes, Aquino's tally was the sixth highest of the 37 candidates for the 12 vacant seats elected from the nation at large. He assumed his new office on June 30, 2007.
During the campaign, Aquino reached out to his former enemy, Senator Gregorio Honasan, supporting his application for bail. "I endorse Honasan's request for bail para parehas and laban. I was hit by bullets from Honasan's men in the neck and hips but that's past now. The principle of my father was, ' Respect the rights even of your enemies.' Ito ang nagpatingkad ng demokrasya. Genuine reconciliation is democracy in action," Aquino told Job Tabada of Cebu Daily News on 5 March 2007. He was referring to two bloody coup attempts against his mother in 1987 and 1989, in the first of which Aquino was seriously injured.