Agapito Aquino

Agapito "Butz" Aquino (May 20, 1939 – August 17, 2015) was a Filipino politician, human rights activist and actor who spoke on the Radio Veritas broadcast with Cardinal Jaime Sin that initiated the People Power Revolution on February 22, 1986.

He served as Senator of the Philippines from 1987 to 1995, congressman from Makati and a part-time film and television actor. He was born to former senator Benigno S. Aquino Sr. and Aurora Aquino. He was the brother of former senators Benigno S. Aquino Jr. and Tessie Aquino-Oreta, as well as the uncle of President Benigno S. Aquino III and Senator Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV. In 2024, Butz Aquino was honored by having his name inscribed at the wall of remembrance of the Philippines' Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial, which honors the martyrs and heroes who fought against the Martial Law regime of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Early life Aquino was born at May 20, 1939 in Manila or, according to his birth certificate, in Concepcion, Tarlac, where he would be raised. His parents were Benigno Aquino Sr., who was the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce at the time of his birth, and Aurora A. Aquino. His siblings were: Benigno S. "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., Paul Aquino, Maria Teresa Aquino-Oreta, Maria Gerarda "Ditas" Aquino-Valdes, Maria Guadalupe "Lupita" Aquino-Kashiwahara, and Maria Aurora "Maur" Aquino-Lichauco.

Early career Aquino started out as an entrepreneur and was the President of Mofire Fiberglass Inc. from the 1970s until the 1980s. In that period, he wasn't interested in politics. He was said to be cynical about politics and believed that it was a "ballgame of the rich". According to journalist Gregg Jones, Aquino served as his imprisoned brother Ninoy's representative in 1978 during indirect negotiations with the Manila chapter of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which sought to add candidates it approved of to the Metro Manila opposition slate in the 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa elections. He started participating in politics when his brother Ninoy, was assassinated on August 21, 1983, at Manila International Airport.

Activism and organizational leadership August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) Under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Agapito was one of the founders of the August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM), Coalition of Organizations for the Restoration of Democracy (CORD) and Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (BANDILA). Agapito became close friends with Binay as co-founders.

KOMPIL In January 1984, Aquino established with the aid of the CPP the Kongreso ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL), which aimed to unite the opposition against the Marcos administration.

Bayan In May 1985, upon the establishment of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (or Bayan), Aquino was elected to its National Council. After two weeks, however, Aquino resigned from the council with Teofisto Guingona Jr., with the two being reportedly uneasy about the growing influence of the CPP and its National Democratic Front (NDF) in the alliance. Aquino thus formed a new organization with Guingona called Bansang Nagkaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (BANDILA; ), and by August 4, 1985 he launched another group called the Filipino Social Democratic Movement (FSDM) at a convention within the Ateneo de Manila University, with Mar Canonigo as secretary general. In a conversation with journalist Gregg Jones that same month, Aquino claimed that the CPP had been attempting to impose itself on how the composition of Bayan's national council should be during its first congress, and that while he had permitted the CPP to utilize him in the past, he vowed to no longer associate with the party: "Diokno, Tañada and I worked with them in trust. For us, that trust was broken at the Bayan national congress." Aquino thus went directly to Camp Aguinaldo for Enrile and Ramos' second press conference and proceeded to offer his support, with Enrile answering: "We need all the support we can get." Some hours after Aquino and Sin broadcast their messages, several soldiers attacked and destroyed the station's transmitter.

On February 25, 1986, three days after Aquino and Sin's broadcast, the movement spread nationwide and became known as the People Power Revolution (also called the EDSA Revolution), managing to remove the Marcos family from government and install Corazon Aquino as the new president of the Philippines.

Political career Senate and the House of Representatives (1987–2007)

In 1987, he was elected to be a Senator of the Philippines and continued to be part of Senate when he was re-elected in 1992. Placing 24th and last among all winning senators in the 1992 elections, he became term-limited in 1995. In 1995, he ran for representative of the newly created 2nd District of Makati and won. However, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) en banc later declared him ineligible for failing to meet the one-year residency requirement, while the district was created four months before the election. Thus, the seat remained vacant for the entire 10th Congress. His remains were cremated, brought to the Senate for a tribute on August 19, and laid to rest at St. Therese Columbarium in Pasay.

Electoral history +Electoral history of Butz AquinoYearOfficePartyVotes receivedResultTotal %.Swing 1987 Senator Lakas ng Bayan 12,426,432 54.65 2nd 1992 LDP 3,964,966 16.35 24th –38.3 1995 Representative(Makati–2nd) LDP 38,547 1st 1998 LAMMP 76,807 65.85 1st 2001 LDP 56,737 63.37 1st –2.48 2004 86,937 79.44 1st +16.07 2010 Mayor of Makati Independent 5,816 2.13 4th

Filmography Film The Passionate Strangers (1966) - Julio Lazatin Impossible Dream (1973) - Atty. Barredo Hello... Goodnight... Goodbye (segment "Hello"; 1975) Mother and Daughter (1975) Postcards from China (1975) Magandang Gabi sa Inyong Lahat (1976) Mapang-akit... ang Dilim ng Gabi (1976) Mahal Kong Taksil (1979) Aliw (1979) Sugat sa Ugat (1980) The Last Reunion (1982; shot in 1978) - Japanese General To Love Again (1983) Pacific Inferno (1985; shot in 1979) - Dubayashi Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw (2000) - Francine's father Kung Ako Na Lang Sana (2003) - Ed Valladolid

Television Savage: In the Orient (1983) – Captain Saprido Palos (2008) - President Donatello Guidotti I Heart You, Pare! (2011) - Mr. Henry Castillo