Exclusive | ‘I smile when I’m fed up’: Philippine president Benigno Aquino defends ‘inappropriate’ grins that sparked international outrage

Philippine president has drawn criticism for body language deemed insensitive

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Aquino apparently smiles at the wake of 44 police commandos who died in a botched anti-terror operation in January.

Published: 8:00am, 21 Apr 2015Updated: 5:20pm, 27 Apr 2015

Philippine President Benigno Aquino has explained why people sometimes misunderstand his awkward smile – including in the wake of the 2010 Manila hostage tragedy in which eight Hongkongers died.

“I have various smiles for various purposes,” he told the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview, as he recounted the outrage his enigmatic expressions have caused.

“Usually I have a particular smile when I am so fed up.”

Aquino is well known for smiling during moments when it would seem inappropriate. Earlier this year, he set off a storm of controversy in the Philippines when he appeared to smile at the wake for 44 commandos who were killed in a disastrous anti-terror operation in country’s Muslim majority south.

Aquino caused outrage in Hong Kong for smiling at a press conference on August 24, 2010, after the Manila hostage incident that left eight Hongkongers dead.

But it was an earlier smiling incident that is perhaps better known to Hongkongers.

In the aftermath of the 2010 Manila hostage crisis – in which disgruntled former Philippine policeman Rolando Mendoza hijacked a bus of tourists, leading to the deaths of eight Hongkongers – Aquino attracted furious criticism after appearing to smile at a press conference.