It was just supposed to be a casual conversation at the session hall, when Liberal Party chairman Florencio “Butch” Abad suddenly asked Tarlac Rep. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, “Why don’t you run for the Senate?”

The young congressman merely smiled, but he later felt uncomfortable. “Talaga naman pang senado na si Noynoy ‘di ba? Siguradong panalo yan (Noynoy is really for the senate, isn’t he? He’ll surely win),” says Abad.

Noynoy’s reaction to the Liberal Party boss wasn’t surprising. At 42, Noynoy has emerged as one of the country’s most influential legislators. But unlike most politicians, patience has always been his virtue.

Perceived as his father’s successor when the late opposition senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated in 1983, the political heir - the only son of the martyred opposition leader - proved to be more effective then as a faithful son to his widowed mother. Corazon Aquino eventually became the rallying figure against the dictatorship and was swept to power during the 1986 civilian-backed military uprising.

“Some of my colleagues said, ’sige tumakbo ka na para inspirado naman kami (okay why don’t you run so that we are inspired),’ he says. “But I think my first responsibility right now is to the people who put me in office.”

Noynoy can proudly say he helped fight for democracy. During the 1987 failed coup attempt against the Aquino government, he was wounded while three of his four bodyguards were killed while they were helping defend Malacanang against rebel troops.

The unassuming congressman believes luck has always been on his side. “In that incident, a lot of people who knew about security matters told me it was a miracle I survived. My vehicle took a beating from bullets and grenades. Ang swerte ko lang the grenade that fell inside didn’t explode.”

What or who finally prompted him to join politics?

Definitely, not the Aquino clan. “If it were just family concerns parang the first and the hardest people that I had to convince I was going to run was my family. My mother even gave me 20 questions I had to answer to explain-to her why I wanted to run.”

Noynoy says his perception about politics changed when he worked with farmers at the family-owned Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. “That was the first (consideration). Syempre, the guilt aspect. These are the people who have been supporting us from time immemorial. Before I was born they were already there and they are still so supportive. I asked myself why are we still in this kind of situation. And I think the basic premise there is that we have too many politicians who fall into the traditional politicians’ role.”

“My theory is that, it seems that traditional politicians are interested in keeping their constituencies mired in perpetual poverty.”

This, he says, was the reason he decided to run for Congress, and not in the gubernatorial race. “I think the impact there would be bigger. The resources that you will be able to bring in to address the problem would be bigger.”

Noynoy says he felt that his mother was actually convinced at the onset. “Shall we say that she gets more proofs of my competence as the days go by,” he says with a smile.

The young congressman prefers not to compare himself with his late father’s record in the legislature and his mother’s tenure in Malacanang. “I’d like to think that I have benefited from their experiences,” he says.

Noynoy may be a late bloomer in electoral politics, but he feels he ought to finish the work his parents started. For instance, he cites the propagation of what he describes as the “centrist” ideology. “There are good points from the left and the right, but both have gone to an extreme lhat the negative outweighs the positive. So why not gather all of the positive and form a new ideology. Find the ideal ground that serves the people best,” he says.

Instead of merely fiscalizing, Noynoy would rather work for constructive reforms. At one time, scrutinizing the procurement requirements of the Armed Forces, he found that reforming the system would help increase budgetary requirements for school deficits and public school classrooms. “We don’t have too much money. We have so many problems and it seems we can address these problems better by utilizing these funds better,” he says.

Noynoy says that Filipinos should listen to a “very clear and simple message: Get back to the essence of democracy.”

Originally posted at www.congress.gov.ph