By
The SUN
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| PNoy is best remembered for the West Philippine Sea victory vs China |
Flags are flying at half-mast across the Philippines
today, a day after former President Benigno S. Aquino III succumbed to renal
failure caused by diabetes at the age of 61.
The former president, who was simply PNoy to most
Filipinos, served as the country’s 15th president, from 2010 to
2016. He was single.
His four sisters announced his passing in a statement
read hours after he was pronounced dead on arrival at Capitol Medical Centre, where
he was rushed from his home in Quezon City.
Pinky Aquino-Abellada, who read the statement on
behalf of the Aquino family, said PNoy had been sick for some time, but chose
to keep the matter private. Despite this, his death still came as a surprise to
them.
While evidently in grief, the sisters hailed their
only brother for serving the Filipino people “with honesty and dignity.”
“Mission accomplished ka, Noy,” said Abellada, reading
from their joint statement. “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
will miss you forever, Noy.”
The former president was cremated at the Chapels and Mortuary at
Heritage Park in Taguig City after a short service attended only by close
members of his family. Following his inurnment, a wake was held at the chapels where various dignitaries came to pay final respects.
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| A silver urn containing PNoy's ashes are in the chapel where a wake was held overnight |
Today, his ashes will be taken at the Church of the
Gesu inside the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City where he spent much
of his school life. The public viewing will be from 10am to 10pm.
The interment of his ashes is set for Saturday morning
at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque City where his parents, former
President Cory Aquino and father, former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. are
buried.
According to his sister, actress Kris Aquino, full
military honors will be accorded PNoy before the interment.
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| PNoy's flag-draped casket was viewed only by family and close friends before the cremation |
Also in line with Philippine law, President Rodrigo
Duterte ordered 10 days of mourning for his late predecessor, during which
flags at all public offices across the country will remain at half-staff.
PNoy served as a member of Congress and the Senate
before public clamor following the death of his mother, President Cory Aquino in
2009, led him to accept the Liberal Party’s nomination as their standard bearer
in the 2010 presidential election.
In what was seen as a significant step for Philippine
democracy, over 75% of the 51 million registered Filipino voters went to the
polls in that election. PNoy, who campaigned on the slogan, “Kung walang
corrupt, walang mahirap,” won by a wide
margin, taking 40% of the vote and defeating strong contenders like ousted
President Joseph Estrada and former Senate President Manny Villar.
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| 'Kayo ang boss ko', PNoy told the people at his inauguration |
His inaugural speech at the Luneta signaled the start
of what he called as the “daang matuwid” (straight path) concept of leadership.
In that speech, he told the Filipinos, “kayo ang boss ko,” and promised a
leadership where there was no “palakasan” (influence peddling) and no “wang-wang”,
indicating the practice by most politicians of using sirens to keep other
vehicles away when they’re on the road.
He mainly stood by these principles, but his key achievements
were the great strides that the Philippines made on the economic front. With
him at the helm, the country attained an annual economic growth of just over 6
percent, the highest since the 1970s. The government also gained
investment-grade status, allowing many businesses to gain access to much-needed
funds.
Keeping his promise to root out corruption, he had his
predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrested for corruption, and her then
Chief Justice- appointee, Renato Corona, impeached.
But he also had some missteps along the way, including
the botched handling by the police of the hostage-taking in Luneta Park in August 2010, which led to eight Hong Kong tourists being killed. He also took flak for
the killing in 2015 of 44 SAF (Special Action Forces) members in Mamasapano,
Maguindanao by Muslim rebels, during an operation meant to flush out a
Malaysian terrorist.
Critics also tried to get him to answer for the supposed anomalous purchase of the Dengvaxia vaccine by the government for its anti-dengue program, but failed to go far with the accusations.
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| PNoy gamely answered questions at a Senate hearing on the Dengvaxia controversy |
But more than any of these, PNoy will probably be
remembered for the arbitral ruling in The Hague which upheld the Philippines’
challenge to China’s claims to much of the South China Sea, including parts of
the West Philippine Sea. That victory was seen to temper China’s expansionist
policies in the sea, parts of which are also claimed by various states.
Referring to the late leader’s propensity for taking
on big and mighty rivals, retired Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said, “He
was brave. He went after powerful people who did wrong. But he was fair and
allowed justice to prevail even to his discredit.”
It was during Morales’ watch that PNoy was indicted
over the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP. The then
Ombudsman had earlier cleared Aquino, but on appeal by progressive politicians
from Bayan Muna, the former president was indicted for usurpation of
legislative powers.
Morales also caused Aquino to be issued with his first
warrant of arrest for supposed usurpation of official functions by allowing
dismissed police chief Alan Purisima to participate in the SAF operation in
Mamasapano. But after taking over the post on Morales' retirement, Ombudsman Samuel
Martires withdrew the case.
But clearly, Morales was in no way swayed by the thought that the late leader had done something wrong out of avarice or greed.
“It was a great honor to have served as Ombudsman when he was our
President and honesty, integrity and the rule of law guided our government," she said in a final tribute.
