TRIBUTE- BENIGNO AQUINO III: WASHINGTON- Pres. J.R.Biden recalls P-Noy’s legacy

.After a 10 a.m. mass at Ateneo, Aquino will be laid to rest today June 26, 2021 beside his parents at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City. Manny Palmero

.

.

.

.US President Joe Biden on Friday offered his condolences to the Philippines on the death of former President Benigno Aquino III, describing him as a “valued friend and partner” to the United States who would “long be remembered for serving his country with integrity and selfless dedication.”

.

In a statement released by the White House, Biden added that Aquino’s “steadfast commitment to advancing peace, upholding the rule of law, and driving economic growth for all Filipinos while taking bold steps to promote the rules-based international order” will leave a “remarkable legacy at home and abroad that will endure for years to come.”“I greatly valued our time working together, and I extend my heartfelt sympathies to his family and to all who will mourn his absence,” the US President said.Biden served as the vice president under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017, while Aquino was the Philippine president from 2010 to 2016.

.

The 61-year-old Aquino III, son of pro-democracy icons, Benigno Jr. and Corazon, who helped oust the late dictator President Ferdinand Marcos, promoted good governance and brought China’s massive territorial claims to an international court during his presidency.Four years after filing the case against China in 2012, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands ruled in favor of the Philippines, invalidating China’s massive claim and upheld the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.Expressions of condolences and messages of bereavement poured in for Aquino from Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Nations and the European Union.

.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement, lauded Aquino for his determination “to reform the government and promote the stable growth of the Philippine economy.”Under Aquino, the ministry said Taiwan and the Philippines have strengthened cooperation on legal and maritime cooperation with the signing of the “Taiwan-Philippines Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Justice” and the “Taiwan-Philippines Cooperation Agreement on Promoting Fishery Law Enforcement.”These agreements highlighted the “friendly and cooperative relations between Taiwan and the Philippines,” the ministry added.Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Friday expressed his grief over Aquino’s death.“The country and I are grieving for the death of former President Benigno ‘Noyno’” Aquino III,” Estrada said in Filipino.

.

“My sincere condolences to the Aquino family. At this time, my only prayer is for the Lord to give you strength. Goodbye, Noy!”The country’s top Muslim leaders also mourned Aquino’s death.“The Bangsamoro government joins the entire country in mourning the death of former President Benigno “Nonoy” Aquino…,” Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim said in a message sent to the Aquino family.Ebrahim said the confidence developed by both parties in the peace process during Aquino’s term paved the way for the signing of key agreements that cleared the path for the foundation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

.

House Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman said following the 2011 siege of Al-Barka in Basilan, some quarters were calling for all-out war, but Aquino opted to negotiate peace.Gov. Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. said undoubtedly “the peace process achieved a significant breakthrough during Aquino’s term.Maguindanao Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu said Aquino’s death came as sad news to him and his family.Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, BARMM minister of interior and local government, said the Bangsamoro government is forever grateful for the former President’s “contribution in establishing the self-governing political entity now called the BARMM…. We value that with a deep sense of gratitude.””(President Aquino) was bold and brave enough to meet the MILF chairman in a third country, the first in the history of the Moro struggle.

.

This meeting hastened the pace of the negotiations and led to the signing of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro,” Sinarimbo said.Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on Friday led the Supreme Court and the entire judiciary in mourning the death of Aquino.“We will remember him as the President who did his best to serve the Filipinos tirelessly with dedication,” he added.Lawmakers at the House of Representatives on Friday filed a resolution expressing their sympathy and condolences.

The still unnumbered resolution was filed by Liberal Party representatives Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman, Deputy Minority Leader Kit Belmonte, Edcel Lagman, Jocelyn S. Limkaichong, Josephine Y. Ramirez – Sato, Edgar R. Erice, Isagani Amatong, Stella Luz S. Quimbo, Francis Gerald A. Abaya, Emmanuel A. Billones, Gabriel H. Bordado Jr., Edgardo M. Chatto, Paul R. Daza, and Romulo Peña Jr. and Alfonso Umali Jr. Anak Mindanao Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan joined as author.“President Aquino championed good governance reforms, anti-corruption and transparency under the mantra ‘Kayo ang Boss Ko’ and ‘Daang Matuwid.’

.

During his six-year presidency, President Aquino advocated flagship government programs such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Bottom-Up Budgeting Process, and universal health care services that benefitted millions of Filipinos,” the resolution read.It also mentioned President Aquino’s actions in standing up to China and asserting the country’s claims over its territory in the West Philippine Sea.

Liberal Party President Senator Francis Pangilinan on Friday enjoined all democracy-loving Filipinos to reflect upon Aquino’s aim to defend, preserve and strengthen democracy.He said this is what Aquino would have wanted.“We have a fragile democracy that we need to protect and preserve and that’s what we should be focused on,” Pangilinan said on the ABS-CBN news channel.Also on Friday, the family’s former spokesperson Deedee Siytangco said very few people knew about Aquino’s poor health.In an interview over Channel 7’s Unang Hirit,

.

Siytangco said Aquino had kept his condition a secret to many even as he was undergoing dialysis for a possible kidney transplant.“Even when he was going through dialysis, he did not want us to tell other people. Actually, he had already undergone a heart procedure. After which, they (doctors) were building up his body for a possible transplant,” she said.Ronald Llamas, Aquino’s former political adviser, said: “I just saw him once during the pandemic. He was also being careful. Basically, we were just texting (one another).”“We did not know how serious his condition was.

.

He did not want to tell us his real condition. He did not want us to worry,” he said.“(Later on), we had just noticed that he was losing weight, and his health was deteriorating. That was the only time that we learned about his serious health condition. Maybe, only his family and doctor were the only ones who knew the real situation.

.

He was not the kind of person that would tell his problems and health status,” he added.Interviewed over ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo, ex-Department of Public Works and Highways secretary Rogelio Singson said the late President underwent dialysis and angioplasty to prepare him for a kidney transplant.Aquino was then just waiting for a compatible kidney donor, he added. Singson said he had failed to visit his former boss because of the COVID-19 pandemic.The Aquino siblings said their brother had been in and out of hospital for medical treatment even before COVID-19 pandemic.The remains of Aquino were immediately cremated.

.

.

.

His ashes were brought to the Ateneo de Manila University on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City, where he spent his grade school, high school and college studies.His supporters waited outside the campus and lined up ahead of public viewing from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.The schedule of the funeral mass for the former president will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 26, at the Church of the Gesu at the Ateneo De Manila University. The mass will be presided by Archbishop Socrates Villegas.The urn of President Aquino will depart immediately after the mass and will be brought to the Manila Memorial Park in Sucat, Parañaque. The President will be laid to rest next to his parents.