Noynoy featured in Time Magazine anew

Philippine president-apparent Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is once again on the pages of Time Magazine, the second instance after he was featured on its cover last April. A brief feature on Aquino, the leading presidential candidate based on partial and unofficial tallies, described him as "no ordinary entitled scion" despite being part of a political dynasty that includes relatives of his late parents, former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon Aquino. "By all accounts, he is a modest man, whose father made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, and whose mother nurtured her nation's democracy when it otherwise could have died. Those aren't bad credentials for office for the Philippines, which needs, above all, a leader of integrity," Zoher Abdoolcarim wrote in "The Moment" on page 9.

With a five-million lead over his closest rival according to the partial and unofficial tally of more than 90 percent of election returns, Aquino is the presumptive president-elect. "In the land that gave the world People Power, the people have entrusted the inexperienced Aquino with fixing a country broken in too many ways to enumerate. It's a Herculean task that will require him to play the Philippines' rough politics, while having to rise above it. Should he succeed even in part, Aquino will then, truly, have made his own name," Abdoolcarim wrote. The main picture used for the feature was that of Aquino in a green background, on set for an interview via GMA Network's hologram effect. An even shorter feature found on the next page, which contains 10 "essential stories" from around the world, titled "Aquino Dynasty Extended" briefly recounted how the death of Mrs. Aquino ushered Noynoy into the presidential race. Underneath it was a small infograph titled "The Aquinos: A Family of Notables" that showed the faces of Cory, Ninoy, Noynoy, and his celebrity sister Kris who was described as "The Filipina Oprah." Asked for his reaction to the short feature, Noynoy said, "Kapiraso, tinawag pa kaming dynasty (It was just short, and we were called a dynasty)." Noynoy was featured on the cover of Time magazine on April 26, with the cover story titled "The Next Aquino: Can Noynoy save the Philippines?" by Ishaan Tharoor He was featured again, although this time not on the cover, on May 11 after the elections in another article by Ishaan Tharoor, "In the Philippines, a Landslide Victory for the Aquino Dynasty." "Both of Aquino's parents came from the sort of landed, aristocratic clans that have dominated the politics of both Manila and the provinces that serve as their strongholds," wrote Thakhoor in his second story on Aquino, although he noted that Noynoy took the criticisms of his background "in stride" and that Noynoy appears to be intent on solving the country's woes. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV