Benigno Aquino III

Benigno Aquino III is a bachelor but has been in relationships. Since 2015 he is in a relationship with Pia Wurtzbach, a Filipino-German model.

He takes active interest in billiards and shooting but more recently he has shown liking for video games. He is an enthusiast of history and also likes spending time listening to music.

He was born on February 8, 1960, in Sampaloc, Manila, in the family of Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. and Corazon Cojuangco as their only son among five children. At that time his father was the Vice Governor of the province of Tarlac and later remained a Senator from 1967 to 1972. His mother became the 11th President of the country from 1986 to 1992.

He studied in Quezon City at the ‘Ateneo de Manila University’ starting from primary education till college studies and earned a bachelor degree in Economics in 1981. He is an ex-student of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when the later was a professor of economics at the university.

His father was arrested on charges of subversion in September 1972 as he had emerged as a noted leader of opposition of the government of President Ferdinand Marcos. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. faced a military tribunal in August 1973 at the ‘Fort Bonifacio’.

His father was finally allowed to move to the US for medical treatment after surviving several bouts of cardiac attacks. From then on his family stayed in the US in self-exile and he joined them after completing graduation.

His father was assassinated on August 21, 1983, shortly after which the family came back to Philippines.

In 1998 he was elected a member of the ‘House of Representatives’ from the 2nd district of Tarlac province, a stint he continued for the next two terms also.

From November 8, 2004 he served the House as the Deputy Speaker. However he gave up the position in February 21, 2006 to join the ‘Liberal Party’ at a time when the Hello Garci scandal alleging President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of rigging the 2004 national election in Garci’s favour escalated. The ‘Liberal Party’ demanded resignation of the President.

He chaired the board of ‘Central Luzon Congressional Caucus’.

He was unable to run for the 2007 election of the House because of term restrictions. He became a Senator after being elected during the midterm election held on May 15 that year. He represented ‘Genuine Opposition’, a coalition of several parties including the ‘Liberal Party’. The coalition sought to restrain President Arroyo’s attempts of altering the 1986 Philippine Constitution.

He was instrumental in filing several developmental and reformatory Senate bills including the ‘Budget Impoundment and Control Act’ (SB 3121), ‘Preservation of Public Infrastructures bill’ (SB 2035) and the ‘Philippine National Police’ reform bill.

In 2013 he was included in the list of ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’ by ‘TIME’.