FORMER President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III died yesterday morning due to renal disease secondary to diabetes. He was 61 years old.
Aquino was rushed to the Capitol Medical Center (CMC) in Quezon City but was pronounced dead by attending doctors at 6:30 a.m., according to his sister Pinky Aquino-Abellada.
“It is with profound grief that on behalf of our family, I am confirming that our brother, Benigno ‘Noynoy’ S. Aquino III died peacefully in his sleep… No words can express how broken our hearts are and how long it will take for us to accept the reality that he is gone,” Aquino-Abellada said as she read their family’s official statement.
“Mission accomplished Noy, be happy now with Dad and Mom. We love you and we are so blessed to have had the privilege to have had you as our brother. We’ll miss you forever, 3,” Aquino-Abellada said.
Kris Aquino, younger sister of the former president, said the remains of her brother were cremated yesterday and will be buried on Saturday at the Manila Memorial Cemetery alongside the graves of their parents.
The actress said their family was not alienating his brother from his supporters by implementing a short wake but the family does not want the event to become a super-spreader event amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The cremation is already finished. Tomorrow (Friday) we will have a mass at the Ateneo and on Saturday we will bury him beside our parents at the Manila Memorial Cemetery,” she said in a media interview.
Former cabinet member and Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) Ricky Carandang, in a separate media interview, confirmed the cremation and said that a mass on Friday will attended by the members of the Aquino Cabinet.
In appreciation for the outpouring of prayers and sympathies for the passing of the former president, the Aquino family said there will be a one-day public viewing of his urn at the Church of the Gesu inside the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City today, Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
In adherence to government regulations to manage the transmission of the coronavirus, the family appeals to those who would personally pay their last respects to the late leader to follow health protocols and social distancing measures that will be implemented by the ADMU.
The Ateneo De Manila University community said there will be a live stream of the public viewing through the Radyo Katipunan 87.9 FM Facebook page of the university.
Personalities close to the former leader, including his sisters and nephews, were seen at the hospital, and later at the Heritage Chapels in Taguig City where his wake is being held.
Details about the funeral were still unavailable.
Among those who rushed to the CMC were Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Mar Roxas, who was secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government during the Aquino administration and the late president’s running mate in 2010; Rene Almendras, former head of the Department of Energy; Alberto del Rosario, secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs; and Abigail Valte, former deputy presidential spokesman.
Aquino, referred to in public as “Noynoy” or “PNoy,” served as the country’s 15th president from 2010 to 2016. He was a former senator (2007-2010) and former member of the House of Representatives (1998 -2007) representing the second district of Tarlac.
He is the son of the late president Corazon Aquino and late senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino.
Aquino ran in 2010 anchored on his “Daang Matuwid” anti-corruption drive, and called the Filipino people his “boss” during his presidency.
While Aquino was president, the Philippine government filed a complaint in 2012 against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in connection with the standoff at the Bajo de Masinloc and China’s barring of Filipino fishermen from the traditional fishing ground.
The PCA in 2016 invalidated China’s nine-dash theory that called almost the entire South China Sea, an arbitral win for the Philippines.
He also implemented the no siren and blinkers policy, which many government officials abused to pass through heavy traffic in Metro Manila.
It was during Aquino’s presidency that various renowned events happened: the infamous Manila hostage crisis that resulted in the deaths of eight tourists from Hong Kong, the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda that killed at least 6,000 people from Eastern Samar and Eastern Visayas, the deaths of 44 members of the PNP’s Special Action Forces during the Mamasapano encounter in Maguindanao, and the Dengvaxia dengue vaccine controversy.
Aquino also received Pope Francis during his papal visit to Manila from January 15 to 19 in 2015, and hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit on November 18 to 19, 2015 that was attended by world leaders led by then American President Barak Obama, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
After his term as president, Aquino mostly kept a low profile and lived as a bachelor at the Aquino’s family home in Quezon City.
Aquino-Abellada said her brother had always valued his privacy and preferred to work quietly even to the point that he was heavily criticized for some of the decisions and actions that he made.
She said there were times when they asked him to answer the allegations hurled against him, and when their brother faced the investigations in the Sandiganbayan, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, but the former president simply told them that he can still sleep soundly at night.
“Kagaya ng serbisyong binigay niya sa bayan — hindi maingay, trabahong galing sa puso – dahil alam niya kayo ang boss niya… Because when you serve with honesty and dignity, and you know you committed no crimes against the people, hindi ka matatakot magsabi ng totoo (Just like the services he delivered to the public — silently and from the heart — because he knows that you are his bosses… Because when you serve with honesty and dignity, and you know you committed no crimes against the people, you will not be afraid to tell the truth),” she said.
Aquino-Abellada said that prior to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic hit the country, her brother had been in and out of the hospital. She thanked his attending doctors and medical team for respecting his privacy and keeping his medical status confidential, and his staff at home who took care of him and attended to his needs.
She also thanked the priests and nuns who have continuously prayed for the former president, and the friends and relatives who visited Aquino, protected him, and sent him food and text messages over the years.
The late President, who was known to be a smoker, kept his ailment out of the public eye after his term ended.
The Aquino family likewise expressed their gratitude to those who have supported and worked with the former president over the years, including the people of the second district of Tarlac who voted for him in 1998, the 14.3 million Filipinos who elected him to the Senate, and the 15.2 million Filipinos who voted for him to become president in 2010. — With Noel Talacay
