Former Philippine President Noynoy Aquino Dies At 61

Former Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III died on Thursday at the age of 61 due to kidney disease caused by diabetes.

Aquino, who was the Philippine President from 2010 to 2016, was the only son of the late former president Corazon "Cory" Aquino and her assasinated husband, senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino.

Pinky Aquino-Abellada, Noynoy's sister, claimed her brother "passed peacefully in his sleep" at 6:30 a.m. local time.

"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 in a statement.

"Mission accomplished –– Be happy now with dad and mom," she added. "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."

Aquino's remains were transported to Heritage Park in Taguig on Thursday where he was cremated later that day. A mass will be celebrated at his alma mater, Ateneo de Manila University, on Friday.

One of Noynoy's siblings, Kris Aquino, said her brother will be buried alongside their parents at the Manila Memorial Park on Saturday.

Aquino-Abellada clarified per CNN Philippines that her brother was already visiting the hospital regularly even before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The former president's family also expressed gratitude to the doctors and medical staff who cared for him.

Current Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte proclaimed 10 days of national mourning to remember his predecessor, local reports say. The Philippine flag flew at half-mast on all official buildings and institutions in the country and abroad.

"Let us all take this opportunity to unite in prayer and set aside our differences as we pay respects to a leader who has given his best to serve the Filipino people," Duterte said in a statement.

Duterte also lauded the Aquino family's "legacy of offering their lives for the cause of democracy."

Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said on his Twitter account that former President Aquino was "brave under armed attack, wounded in the crossfire, indifferent to power and its trappings, and controlled our country with a strange coldness, but only because he masked his sentiments so well it was supposed he had none."

U.S. Embassy in Manila also extended its heartfelt sympathies to the family of ex-president Aquino.

From 2010 to 2016, the previous leader, sometimes known as "Noynoy" or "Pnoy," served as the country's 15th president.

Before becoming the Philippines' president, Aquino had a long political career. From 1998 to 2007, he was a member of the Liberal Party. He served as the congressman of Tarlac in the House of Representatives for three terms. In 2007, he ran for Senate and was elected.

Following his mother's death in August 2009, the people pressured him to run for president, which he subsequently won with a large lead in May 2010.