Political Parties and the Maintenance of Liberal Democracy
Aquino, who will take his oath as the country's 15th president on June 30, is the first bachelor president and the first to have no children. He is also the first to use the suffix III, according to a primer by inaugural spokesman Manuel L. Quezon III.
Aquino is the first to have a birthday in February. A Tarlac congressman for nine years, he is also the first deputy speaker of the House of Representatives to have been later elected president.
Aquino is the son of the late President Corazon Aquino, who was swept into office following the ouster of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the country for two decades.
According to Quezon, Aquino shares one similarity with Marcos: they are both marksmen. Aquino is a sharp shooter, while Marcos belonged to the University of the Philippines rifle team.
Aquino is the first Liberal Party presidential candidate to have been won since Diosdado Macapagal, the father of outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Aquino is also the first president since Macapagal not to have changed political parties.
While he is criticized for his smoking habit, Aquino won't be the first president to have enjoyed cigarettes: Quezon's own grandfather Manuel L. Quezon, Manuel Roxas, Carlos P. Garcia, and Joseph Estrada were all known smokers.
But Aquino will be considered the eight president who is a smoker if one counts the occasional pipe or cigar smoking of Jose P. Laurel, Fidel V. Ramos, Macapagal, and Macapagal-Arroyo.
Aquino is a smoker but he doesn't drink alcoholic beverages. This makes him the second president who does not drink alcohol, the other being Emilio Aguinaldo, according to the inaugural spokesperson. - Jam Sisante/KBK
