Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III also known as Noynoy Aquino or PNoy, is a Filipino politician who has been

the fifteenth and current President of the Philippines since June 2010. Aquino is a fourth-generation politician: his great-grandfather, Servillano "Mianong" Aquino, served as a delegate to the Malolos Congress; his grandfather, Benigno Aquino, Sr., held several legislative positions from 1919 to 1944; and his parents were President Corazon Aquino and Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. Aquino is a member of the Liberal Party. In the Liberal Party, Aquino held various positions such as Secretary General and Vice President for Luzon. Aquino is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Liberal Party.

Born in Manila, Aquino graduated from Ateneo de Manila University in 1981 and joined his family in their exile in the United States shortly thereafter. He returned to the Philippines in 1983 shortly after the assassination of his father and held several positions working in the private sector. In 1998, he was elected to the House of Representatives as Representative of the 2nd district of Tarlac province. He was subsequently re-elected to the House in 2001 and 2004.[ In 2007, having been barred from running for re-election to the House due to term limits, he was elected to the Senate in the 14th Congress of the Philippines Following the death of his mother on August 1, 2009, many people began calling on Aquino to run for president. On September 9, 2009, Aquino officially announced he would be a candidate in the 2010 presidential election, held on May 10, 2010. On June 9, 2010, the Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Aquino the winner of the 2010 presidential election. On June 30, 2010, at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila, Aquino was sworn into office as the fifteenth President of the Philippines, succeeding Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, byAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Conchita Carpio-Morales. Despite the official residence of the President being Malacaang Palace, his actual residence is the Bahay Pangarap (House of Dreams), located within the Palace grounds. On November 26, 2008, the Liberal Party elected Mar Roxas, president of the Liberal Party, as the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party for President of the Philippines in the thenupcoming 2010 presidential elections. Following the death and funeral of Aquino's mother, former President Corazon Aquino, many people began calling on Aquino to run for President of the Philippines. This groundswell of support became known as the "Noynoy Phenomenon". On September 2009, the Liberal Party held numerous press conferences in relation to the 2010 elections at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan, the site of the presidential inauguration of Aquino's mother in February 1986. On September 1, 2009, at the Club Filipino, in a press conference, Senator Mar Roxas, president of the Liberal Party and standard-bearer of the Liberal Party for President of the Philippines, announced his withdrawal from the presidential race and expressed his support for Aquino, as the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party for President. [ Aquino later stood side by side with Roxas, but did not make a public statement at the press conference. The next day, Aquino announced that he would be going on a "spiritual retreat" over the weekend to finalize his decision for the 2010 presidential election, reminiscent of the decision of his mother, who in 1985, went on a retreat before giving her decision to run for the presidency during the snap elections in 1986. Aquino went on a retreat over the weekend, visiting the Carmelite sisters in Zamboanga City. The following week, on September 9, Aquino officially announced his candidacy for the presidency in the then-upcoming elections. During the 90-day election campaign period, Senator Francis Escudero began endorsing Aquino as President and PDP-Laban standard-bearer Jejomar Binay, for Vice President, launching the Aquino-Binay campaign. However, this was done without the consent of the two candidates, since Escudero, Aquino and Binay came from different political parties.

Binay was former President Joseph Estrada's running mate for Vice President. The AquinoBinay campaign endorsed by Escudero was successful as the Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Aquino and Binay the winners of the 2010 elections for President and Vice President on June 9, 2010. During the 2010 presidential election, held on May 10, 2010, in unofficial tallies, conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), Aquino was the leading candidate in tallied votes for President, and in the official Congressional canvass, Aquino was the leading candidate in canvassed votes for President. Aquino was unofficially being referred to as "President-apparent" by the media. On June 9, 2010, at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, in Quezon City, the Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Aquino as the President-elect of the Philippines, following the 2010 election with 15,208,678 votes, while Jejomar Binay, the former mayor of Makati City, was proclaimed as the Vice President-elect of the Philippines with 14,645,574 votes, defeating runner-up for the vice presidency Mar Roxas, the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party for Vice President. The Presidency of Benigno S. Aquino III began at noon on June 30, 2010, when he became the fifteenth President of the Philippines, succeeding Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Aquino is the third-youngest person to be elected president, and the fourth-youngest president after Emilio Aguinaldo, Ramon Magsaysay and Ferdinand Marcos. Aquino is the first president to be abachelor, being unmarried and having no children. Aquino is the second president not to drink alcoholic; the first president not to drink alcohol was Emilio Aguinaldo. Aquino is the eighth president to be a smoker. Aquino is the first graduate of Ateneo de Manila University to become president. Aquino is the third president who will only hold office in Malacaang Palace, but not be a resident, following Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos. Aquino is the first president to make Bahay Pangarap his official residence. Aquino is the third president to use his second given name, Simeon, as his middle initial, as Manuel L. Quezon and Jos P. Laurel did. Aquino is the second president to be a child of a former president, his mother was former President Corazon Aquino; the first president to be a child of a former president was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal. Aquino is the first president to be a bachelor, being unmarried and having no children. He is currently dating Liz Uy. Aquino had a previously relationship with Shalani Soledad, a Valenzuela councilor and niece of former Senator Francisco Tatad. Aquino and Soledad first met around 2000 or 2001, when she interviewed him for a media project; they ran into each other some years later, in August 2008, and began going out. In November 2010, Aquino confirmed that he and Soledad had broken up. He had previously dated Korina Sanchez, and Bernadette Sembrano. Aquino had been an enthusiast of shooting and billiards, but today, he relaxes by playing computer games since he could no longer engage in the first two aforementioned pastimes. He is a history buff, an audiophile and enjoys listening to music. Aquino does not drink alcoholic beverages. He is an avid smoker, and has admitted to smoking up to three packs a day. During his presidential campaign, Aquino promised to quit smoking if he wins the election. However, he decided later he would not quit smoking, preferring to do it at the "appropriate" time. He also said he is not keen on being a poster boy for anti-smoking advocates.