under
Team PNoy Elections 2013 Aquino entered the
2013 senatorial race as a political newcomer at age 35 – the youngest candidate on President
Benigno Aquino III's
administration slate. A cousin of the President and a former youth commissioner and social entrepreneur, Aquino cited both personal and societal motivations for running. He said he wanted to "give the youth a voice in the Senate" as a "fresh face" they could relate to. He told
Philippine Daily Inquirer editors and reporters that the primary issue then was "finding jobs for young people" and that he could "help push for these issues further and make these part of the national discussion" by joining the Senate.
Tony Meloto, the founder of the non-governmental organization
Gawad Kalinga, and Senator
Kiko Pangilinan convinced Aquino to run. Aquino's campaign platform centered on
poverty reduction and youth empowerment, aligning with the Aquino administration's "
inclusive growth" agenda. Aquino campaigned for better access to education, job creation, and support for small businesses and entrepreneurs – themes informed by his social entrepreneurship background. He ran under the banner of the
Liberal Party-led administration coalition, popularly dubbed
Team PNoy. Pangilinan described Bam Aquino as a youthful reformist who would "breathe fresh life" into the Senate and continue the Aquino government's good governance initiatives. During the campaign, Aquino joined Team PNoy's provincial
sorties and media fora, often highlighting his technocratic background. He positioned himself as a clean, competent public servant who could help institutionalize
his cousin's anti-corruption and anti-poverty programs. The May 2013 midterm elections proved successful for Bam Aquino. Team PNoy won 9 of the 12 Senate seats at stake. Aquino secured a seat by finishing in 7th place nationally with roughly 15 million votes. At 36 years old, he became the youngest member of the
16th Congress. Upon proclamation on May 17, 2013, Aquino framed his win as a mandate for inclusive growth and vowed to work on laws expanding opportunities for families and youth. He campaigned against Duterte's
tax reform program, specifically calling for the suspension of
excise taxes on fuel under the
TRAIN Law to curb rising
inflation. Economists had attributed the 2018 surge in consumer prices to the TRAIN tax on fuel, and Aquino positioned himself as one of the few legislators who had opposed the tax from the start. The slate campaigned on a platform of upholding democracy, checking alleged
human rights abuses, and offering policy alternatives. Their campaign manager, Senator
Francis Pangilinan, described their campaign as an "uphill battle" against Duterte's
well-funded allies. Acknowledging their resource gap, the opposition adopted
grassroots strategies: the Liberal Party launched "Project Makinig" (), a
door-to-door campaign in late 2018 to reconnect with voters at the
barangay level. Aquino and his Otso Diretso colleagues also held
town hall meetings in an effort to shore up support without the benefit of massive
advertising funds or the endorsements of
local government officials. They openly challenged administration-backed candidates to public debates. However, Duterte's allied slate (fielded by the ruling
PDP–Laban and the President's daughter's
Hugpong ng Pagbabago) largely ignored calls for debate, Dr. Diana J. Mendoza, then-chair of the political science department at the
Ateneo de Manila University, believed this limited Otso Diretso's visibility and made it harder for Aquino to contrast himself with rivals in the eyes of many voters. Despite these efforts,
Pulse Asia and
Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveys showed him hovering near the cutoff of the "Magic 12" (the top 12 candidates win Senate seats). The
midterm elections on May 13, 2019, resulted in a sweep for the pro-Duterte slate, and Aquino ultimately failed to secure re-election. He finished 14th place with about 14.1 million votes, two places short of the Senate winning circle. On May 15, 2019, Aquino conceded the election, remarking, "There are 14 million people who voted for an Aquino during
the time of Duterte. That's something." None of the opposition's Otso Diretso candidates won a seat.
Tenure Throughout his first Senate term, Aquino's public statements and policy positions often centered on inclusive growth, youth empowerment, and social welfare. As a freshman senator allied with the Aquino administration, he emphasized job creation through entrepreneurship and fought for youth representation in governance. Later, as part of the opposition under President
Rodrigo Duterte, Aquino used his committee leadership to scrutinize government policies on education, science, and the economy. He was vocal in questioning steep rises in consumer prices and urged the suspension of
fuel taxes under the TRAIN Law, aligning with his broader stance of "not burdening Filipino families" with onerous taxes and costs. (left) at
St. Peter's Square,
Vatican City, on August 23, 2018. In the
16th Congress (2013–2016), Aquino chaired the
Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, focusing on support for
micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Aquino's first
Republic Act (RA) that he principally sponsored was the
Go Negosyo Act (; RA No. 10644, enacted 2014), which established "
Negosyo Centers" () nationwide to assist entrepreneurs and boost small businesses. Concurrently, Aquino headed the
Senate Committee on Youth, through which he helped craft the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Reform Act of 2015 (RA No. 10742) that overhauled the
youth council system and introduced an anti-
political-dynasty provision – a first in Philippine law. In the
17th Congress (2016–2019), Aquino briefly served as chairman of the
Senate Committee on Education from July 2016 until the
Liberal Party's members, including Aquino, were ousted from the Senate majority in February 2017. As the education committee chair, he was an author and the principal sponsor of Senate Bill No. 1304, which later became the landmark
Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017 (RA No. 10931), providing for free tuition in
state universities and colleges. Aquino led this bill through the Senate—defending it in debates and during the bicameral conference—until it was ratified by Congress and signed into law in August 2017. After moving to the minority bloc, Aquino became the chairman of the
Senate Committee on Science and Technology. In this role, he was the principal author of the
Balik Scientist Act (; RA No. 11035, enacted June 2018), which institutionalized the
Department of Science and Technology's program incentivizing
Filipino scientists to return from overseas by providing research grants, allowances, and other benefits. Aquino likewise sponsored the Innovative Startup Act of 2019 (RA No. 11337) to offer incentives and remove hurdles for
start-up enterprises, and pushed for legislation to open the
telecommunications sector to more competition (later the
Open Access in Data Transmission Act) as part of efforts to improve
internet services. Aquino was also active in various anti-
poverty and
consumer protection initiatives during his Senate term. In 2016, he introduced Senate Bill No. 357, which later became the Zero Food Waste Act, to create a national
food bank scheme that would channel unsold or excess food from restaurants and supermarkets to the poor rather than letting it go to waste. The bill sought to appoint the
Department of Social Welfare and Development as a coordinator between food establishments and accredited food banks, alongside penalties for those who deliberately spoil food fit for consumption. Aquino later lamented that misinformation derailed this proposal, after online posts falsely claimed he wanted to feed "
leftovers" to poor people. He additionally advocated
tax reforms to benefit low-income Filipinos. On May 4, 2014, Aquino filed a bill to exempt individuals earning below ₱60,000 (about US$1,350) annually from personal income taxes, while adjusting
tax brackets to make the system more
progressive. Although this Marginal Income Earners tax exemption measure did not pass under the
Aquino administration, its objective of relieving the poorest workers from income tax foreshadowed provisions later included in the 2017 tax reform law known as the
TRAIN Law. ==Between terms (2019–2025)==