FACTBOX - Key facts about "Noynoy" Aquino of Philippines

Senator Benigno ''Noynoy'' Aquino gestures during a news conference announcing his presidential candidacy in San Juan Metro Manila September 9, 2009.

REUTERS - The son of the Philippines' former president Corazon "Cory" Aquino, the heroine of a 1986 "People Power" revolution who died on Aug. 1, has said he would run for president in national elections next year.

Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino said he had sought divine guidance and consulted political leaders across the country before he made a decision to accept the plea of the nation to continue his parents' fight for a clean and honest government.

Here are key facts about Aquino:

- Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III was born in Manila on Feb. 8, 1960, to Corazon and Benigno Aquino Jr. His father, a senator who staunchly opposed the rule of strongman Ferdinand Marcos, was assassinated when he returned home from political exile in 1983. The killing shocked the nation and propelled Marcos out of office in the 1986 "People Power" revolution. Corazon Aquino ruled as president from 1986 until 1992.

- A graduate of economics from the Ateneo de Manila University, Aquino is a three-term member of the House of Representatives, from the Tarlac constituency north of Manila. He was congressman from 1998 to 2007.

- In 2007, he was elected to the Senate for a six-year term. He belongs to the Liberal Party of the Philippines, and has been opposed to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in recent years.

"I am determined to continue the fight started by my father and my mother to see that democracy takes root and is strengthened in our country. This cannot happen in a government that serves the interest of the powerful few," he says on his website www.noynoy.ph

- In 1987, during an attempted military coup when his mother was in office, Aquino was shot by rogue soldiers at the Malacanang Palace in Manila. Three of his bodyguards were killed and he sustained five bullet wounds. One bullet is still embedded in his neck.

- Aquino is single but has dated a few television personalities and is seeing a politician 20 years his junior. He says he is a music and movie buff, and is a shooting and billiards enthusiast. He has four sisters, including popular television host and actress Kris Aquino, whose support would be key to a poll victory.

(Reporting by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)