Benigno Aquino

Benigno Aquino (1932-1983), Philippine political figure, leading member of the opposition Liberal Party who was assassinated during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos (1972-1986).

Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr., popularly known as Ninoy, married Corazon Cojuangco in 1954. He entered politics at the age of 22 and subsequently became the youngest mayor, governor, and senator to serve in the Philippines. Imprisoned in 1972 when President Marcos declared martial law, Aquino was allowed to move his family to the United States so he could undergo heart surgery. He later served as a research fellow at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1983 he returned to Manila to work in the legislative election. Despite high security, he was assassinated as he deplaned on August 21. Although an investigation commission declared that several military allies of Marcos were responsible for the assassination, all defendants were acquitted in a 1985 trial. In 1986 a popular uprising in Manila, called the People Power Movement, forced Marcos to flee the Philippines, and Benigno’s widow Corazon Aquino took office as the elected president. The Supreme Court subsequently declared his murder trial a mistrial. In a new trial that ended in 1990, 16 military officials were convicted of his murder.