Butz Aquino


Agapito "Butz" Aquino Aquino was a Senator of the Philippines, congressman from Makati City and a part-time film and television actor. He was born to former senator Benigno S. Aquino Sr., and Aurora Aquino-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 as well as Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV.

Early life

Aquino was born at May 20, 1939. His father is the former senator Benigno S. Aquino Sr. and his mother is Aurora Aquino. His siblings were Benigno S. "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., Paul Aquino, Maria Teresa Aquino-Oreta, Maria Gerarda Aquino, Maria Guadalupe Aquino and, Maria Aurora Aquino.

Education

Agapito Aquino went to San Beda College for his elementary education. He then went to Ateneo de Manila University for his secondary education. For his tertiary education, he attended Mapua Institute of Technology.

Early career

He 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 politics was a "ballgame of the rich". He started participating in politics when his brother Ninoy, was assassinated on August 21, 1983 at the Manila International Airport.

Political career

Under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Agapito was one of the founders of the August Twenty One Movement and Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin. Jejomar Binay was also one of the founders of ATOM as a legal counselor. Agapito became close friends with Binay as co-founders.
In 1987, he was elected to be a Senator of the Philippines and continued to be part of Senate in his 2nd election in 1992. He then became part of the House of Representatives as the representative of the 2nd District of Makati City in 1998. He continued to be as a representative until his 3rd term which ended in 2007. In addition, he also was the Deputy Speaker for Luzon from November 2000 to January 2001 and the Minority Floor Leader from January 2001 to June 2001. After his last term as a representative, he never again joined in any political position. In 2010, he said to a Philippine Star Interview that he had plans in returning to the senate but after learning that his nephew, Benigno Aquino III, was one of the Liberal Party's candidate for presidency, he backed out and supported his nephew.
He was known for being an advocate of small farmers and of cooperative principles as he legislated the notable Magna Carta for Small Farmers, Seed Act, and the Cooperative Code of the Philippines.

Filmography

Film

Aquino died on August 17, 2015 while confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, cited "natural causes", according to his nephew, Senator Bam Aquino. He was 76.