Under Mr. Aquino, average economic growth surpassed 6.0 percent, the highest in recent years, gaining the country investment-grade status from rating agencies. In the first quarter of 2016, shortly before the end of his term, the Philippine economy grew at a rate of 6.9 percent, which was, at the time, the fastest in Asia.
One of his most significant achievements was the enactment of a reproductive rights law that made contraception readily available to the poor. To do so he faced down decades of resistance by the powerful Roman Catholic church in an overwhelmingly Catholic country.
Under Mr. Aquino’s leadership, the Philippines was one of the few Southeast Asian nations willing to stand up to China. He effectively sued Beijing over the two countries’ competing claims in the South China Sea, taking his case to an international tribunal in The Hague. In a landmark ruling in 2016, the tribunal found that there was no legal basis to support China’s expansive claim to sovereignty over the waters.
Mr. Aquino’s difficulties began early. Two months into his presidency, a disgruntled former police officer hijacked a tourist bus carrying passengers from Hong Kong. Eight people were killed in a bungled rescue attempt. As a result, Hong Kong barred tourist travel to the Philippines.
In November 2013 Mr. Aquino was accused of reacting sluggishly to the powerful Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 6,000 people in the central Philippines. Some Western nations, including Canada, cited the Aquino administration’s lack of immediacy in their decisions to sidestep the government and donate money and aid directly to nongovernmental organizations instead.
In his greatest setback, 44 special forces police officers and a number of civilians were killed in 2015 in a botched attempt to capture one of the region’s most-wanted terrorism suspects. The raid resulted in the largest single loss of life by Philippine police officers in recent memory.
In 2017, the country’s anti-graft prosecutor said Mr. Aquino should be held accountable for the officers’ deaths for allowing a suspended national police chief, accused of corruption, to oversee the operation.
