Benigno "Ninoy" Simeon Aquino Jr., was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac. He was the husband of Corazon Aquino—who, after his death, eventually became the president of the Philippines—and father of a later president, Benigno Aquino III. Aquino, together with Gerardo Roxas and Jovito Salonga, helped form the leadership of the opposition towards then President Ferdinand Marcos. He was the aggressive leader who together with the intellectual leader Sen. Jose W. Diokno led the overall opposition.