President Rodrigo Duterte has acknowledged that former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. died in the hands of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

“(Corazon) Cory Aquino may be popular. She is popular today. Why? For losing the husband in the hands of Mr. Marcos,” Duterte said in his speech in Davao City last Friday.

Cory was the wife of Aquino.

In 1983, Aquino, a staunch critic of Marcos, decided to go back to the country after three years of self-exile in the United States. He was assassinated upon his arrival at the then Manila International Airport (now Ninoy Aquino International Airport).

With his death, the 1986 People Power Revolution happened which ended the 21-year Marcos regime and Cory was catapulted to power as she became the 11th president of the Philippines.

Over a dozen military personnel were convicted for Aquino's murder.

Duterte also called Cory's presidency as “incongruity” that after being free from the dictatorship of Marcos, she "exempted" the Hacienda Luisita, a vast of land in Central Luzon owned by her family, from her land reform program.

“We may try to balance history because Aquino declared land reform for the entire Philippines but exempted Doña Luisita, her own land. To the many --- to those who really wanted to be freed from Marcos, that’s another feeling, maybe of gratitude… The one who freed, emancipated… It’s incongruity, they call it,” he said.

In 2012, the Supreme Court, under late Chief Justice Renato Corona, ordered the distribution of some 4,915 hectares of Hacienda Luisita to 6,296 beneficiaries.

Duterte was close to the Marcos family but in his previous speech he said it was Cory who opened his career in politics after he was appointed as officer-in-charge Vice Mayor of Davao City.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, celebrity Kris Aquino, youngest daughter of Aquino and Cory, thanked Duterte for acknowledging that it was Marcos who was behind the death of her father.

“I still admire your authenticity President Duterte… Thank you for acknowledging our family’s loss, and who was behind it. Thank you, Mr. President,” she said. Ella Dionisio/DMS