In the country’s first automated elections held in May 2010, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III emerged as the winner as proclaimed by the Philippine Congress, in the process becoming the 15^th (fifteenth) President  of the Philippines. 

Aquino beat the other presidential candidates, including former President Joseph Estrada and Senator Manny Villar.   Former Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay  won the vice presidential race, edging out Senators Mar Roxas and Loren Legarda.

For Noynoy Aquino III, the man (and Philippine senator and former Congressman) who would be President and who did, his election victory represents not just the passing of the baton in an illustrious family line of Philippine leaders.  His grandfather Benigno Aquino Sr served as vice president under the Second Republic during the Japanese Occupation while his mother, Corazon “Cory” Aquino was the 11^th Philippine President.   And being the only son of the beloved nationalist and martial law hero Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr, his triumph caps the culmination of his father’s dream of a new kind of leadership.

Prior to the 2010 elections, 14 Filipinos had held the Presidency and led the Philippines from the first Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo of the First Republic in 1899 to the 14th Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.  The once US territory – then called the Philippine Islands - was administered by US Governor-Generals from 1901 to 1935 until the Commonwealth Period (1935-1945) which was briefly interrupted by World War II at which time the caretaker government (Second Republic) under Jose Laurel was installed.  The Philippine Commonwealth was marked by the presidencies of Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmena, and Manuel Roxas who also was the first President of the Third Republic.  After Roxas, the subsequent Philippine presidents were Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, Carlos Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand Marcos (who declared martial law and held power for more than 2 decades), Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

As the Philippines moves forward thru the headwinds of a volatile global landscape, the choice of leader has become a most critical factor.  The close to 100 million Filipinos, both local and abroad (especially overseas foreign workers or OFWs) have voted and made their decision.  His famous dad had once remarked that “the Filipino is worth dying for” prior to his assassination. 

Now that history has provided  Noynoy Aquino III – who prefers to be called P. Noy (derived from Pinoy which is the informal local term for  all things Philippine) - the golden opportunity to lead the country at a crucial phase in its history.  It would only be fitting to expect fulfillment of the promised  vision for a better Philippines, with hopes alive for fundamental issues related to peace, poverty, and overall economic quality of life of Filipinos to be addressed more appropriately and equitably.

(Video from youtube.com; posted by reymelsylvester)