FACT CHECK: Noynoy’s choice to use ‘Simeon’ as middle name unrelated to Ninoy’s death

Claim: Former president Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III used Simeon as his middle name instead of Cojuangco during his presidency because the mastermind behind the death of his father, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Simeon Aquino Jr., was someone from the Cojuangco clan.

The clip shown in the video connects the claim to the allegations. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The video containing the claim has 140,000 views as of writing. 

The facts: The former president, in an interview on August 6, 2010, explained why he preferred to use Simeon instead of Cojuangco, and it had nothing to do with allegations about who was behind the killing of his father. 

In an archived copy of a story published by the Manila Bulletin in 2010, Aquino said that he chose to use Simeon, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father. He is the third in the family to have the given name “Benigno Simeon.”

He added that both his father and grandfather used Benigno S. Aquino, and had he used C (for Cojuangco) as his middle initial, he would be veering away from tradition. – Ailla Dela Cruz/Rappler.com

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