GMA reporters on PNoy's popularity: It's not just 'Cory magic'

Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III catapulted to the presidency in 2010 after the death of his mother, former president Corazon "Cory" Aquino.

Many would say his campaign gained a lot of momentum thanks to the so-called "Cory magic," but the late president apparently also had his own charisma.

In an episode of "The Howie Severino Podcast," GMA reporters Tina Panganiban-Perez, Sandra Aquinaldo, and Lei Alviz shared their thoughts on Aquino's popularity.

"I also covered FPJ (Fernando Poe Jr.) during the campaign. He's very popular and got mobbed, but he's a celebrity," Aguinaldo said in Filipino. "Noynoy also got mobbed like a celebrity."

"Did you know, he was the type people liked to kiss?" she added. "In campaigns, people usually touch candidates, shake their hands. But when it came to Aquino, people would grab his face to kiss him."

Alviz, who covered Aquino's electoral campaign together with Aguinaldo, said the former president could hold a crowd and would often crack jokes during his speeches.

Aguinaldo said, however, that it could not be denied that PNoy's popularity benefited from the influence of his parents.

"When I covered his burial at the cemetery, there were senior citizens who came there—supporters of Ninoy and Cory and now of Noynoy," she said.

"But you can also see the younger generation [pay their respects], so that's how you see that he also developed his own support, his own following."

Panganiban-Perez agreed that "Cory magic" and the Aquino name helped PNoy's popularity, but they were not everything.

"No matter how popular the parents' names are, if the child did not have any contribution to the government while in public service, people would not vote for him," she said.

While there were criticisms that Aquino was a mediocre legislator before his ascent to the presidency, Panganiban-Perez said that maybe that media did not highlight his achievements enough during his time in Congress and the Senate.

Aquino, the 15th President of the Philippines, passed away on June 24 at the age of 61 due to renal disease secondary to diabetes.

He was laid to rest on June 26 at Manila Memorial Park beside his mother, who passed away in 2009, and his father, former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. who was assassinated in 1983.

—MGP, GMA News