Visionary: Benigno "ninoy" Aquino

Ninoy Aquino developed his vision in life - to see a prosperous Philippines - early. Born to a prosperous landed family, Aquino was an exemplary student whose tertiary education was interrupted by a journalist stint in Korea for the Manila Times, a popular Philippine newspaper. Aquino's career building goals soon started to revolve around public service, as he entered government service for then-president Ramon Magsaysay. Soon, he was a noted peacemaker who sped along the government's peace process.

The career building efforts of Aquino came to a head when he became, at 34, the youngest-elected senator in history. After several damaging "exposes" at the expense of his spouse, incumbent Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos singled Aquino out as his most dangerous political threat. In 1971, Marcos declared martial law, and Aquino, after temporary incarceration, fled the country in political exile.

When Aquino decided to return to the Philippines, many attempted to dissuade him. He was quoted as saying, "if it's my fate to die by an assassin's bullet, so be it." The return to the Philippines of the career building visionary was one watched closely by the international press. Upon his exit from the airplane flying him home, he was gunned down by an assassin's bullet.

Even if Aquino didn't see his vision to life through to completion, his widow, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, eventually became president of the Philippines after the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos through the vaunted People Power Revolution that has come to characterize the democratic process in the Philippines.

By: Khristine Layug

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