Philippine President Benigno Aquino Inaugurated

Less than a year after being virtually unknown to most Filipinos, Benigno Aquino was inaugurated as President.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino Inaugurated
Newly inaugurated Philippine President Benigno Aquino offers a toast during the inaugural reception at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on June 30. (Noel Celis/Getty Images)
Jasper Fakkert
6/30/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Philippine102543318.jpg" alt="Newly inaugurated Philippine President Benigno Aquino offers a toast during the inaugural reception at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on June 30.   (Noel Celis/Getty Images)" title="Newly inaugurated Philippine President Benigno Aquino offers a toast during the inaugural reception at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on June 30.   (Noel Celis/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1817926"/></a>
Newly inaugurated Philippine President Benigno Aquino offers a toast during the inaugural reception at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on June 30.   (Noel Celis/Getty Images)
Less than a year after being virtually unknown to most Filipinos, Benigno Aquino was inaugurated as president of the Philippines on Wednesday.

Under the campaign motto “Walang Mahirap, Kung Walang corrupt” (“There are no poor people where there is no corruption”), Aquino successfully piggybacked on the popularity of his family name to win the elections in May.

“No more cheating, no more patronage politics, [and] no more stealing. It’s time for helping one another,” Aquino said in his inauguration speech, according to The Philippine Star.

Aquino, 50, is the latest member of the political dynasty started by his father, also Benigno Aquino, an opposition leader assassinated during the years of Ferdinand Marcos’s dictatorship.

Marcos was succeeded in 1986 by Cory Aquino, mother to the new president. Cory Aquino was known as the “woman in yellow” and is still acclaimed as liberator of the nation.

“I had a simple goal in life: to be true to my parents and our country as an honorable son, a caring brother, and a good citizen,” said Benigno Aquino in Wednesday’s inauguration speech.

Aquino says he never thought about being a presidential candidate before his mother Cory passed away in August 2009. A former parliament member for 12 years, he had kept a low profile—something used by his opponents to argue that the candidate lacked experience.

Aquino, however surprisingly quickly won voters’ hearts with his straight-talking, plain communication style, contrasting that of his two major opponents. His supporters hope he can incarnate the changes demanded by Filipinos after years of Arroyo’s presidency, marked by corruption, political violence, and the weakening of national institutions.

In his speech, Aquino said he would form an independent Truth Commission to investigate allegations of corruption against outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Security forces in the Philippines had been on high alert ahead of Aquino’s inauguration in case of trouble.
Jasper Fakkert is the Editor-in-chief of the U.S. editions of The Epoch Times. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Science and a Master's degree in Journalism. Twitter: @JasperFakkert
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