The entire Judiciary, through Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, mourned the sudden passing of former President Benigno Aquino III.
"The Supreme Court and the entire judiciary, join the nation in mourning the death of former President Benigno Aquino III. We offer our deep condolences and prayers to his family and loved ones," Gesmundo said in a statement Friday.
His nephew Miguel Aquino-Abellada, son of Aquino's sister Pinky, said his fondest memories with his late uncle were the days he spent with him inside Bahay Pangarap in Malacañang.
On Friday, June 25, the scion of the Aquino clan sat down with reporters inside the Ateneo de Manila University, the alma mater of the former president where the public was allowed to pay their final respects to him.
Abellada said Aquino can be a fun uncle when it was time to play. But when he disciplined his nieces and nephews, he was even stricter than his sisters.
Aquino III, the son of two of Asia's most prominent democracy icons, died peacefully of renal failure as a result of diabetes earlier this week, his family confirmed.
"Mission accomplished, Noy," his sister Pinky Aquino Abellada said. "Be happy with Mom and Dad."
According to news accounts, Aquino had been on dialysis for at least five months and had just undergone heart surgery. He was admitted to hospital earlier Thursday, according to ABS-CBN News.
Aquino's father, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr., a senator who was one of former President Ferdinand Marcos's harshest critics, was assassinated in 1983 upon his return from exile in the United States. His death sparked a movement that culminated in the 1986 rebellion that brought the Marcos regime to an end.
Corazon Aquino, Aquino's mother, became the country's first female leader.
Aquino had said that he had no desire to be president, but Corazon's death in 2009 restored his family's political significance. He ran on a platform of good governance and won by a landslide. He served as President of the Philippines from 2010 until 2016.
As president, he was commended for rebuilding the economy and for his tenacious defense of the country's territory. In 2013, he brought China to court to contest its rights in the South China Sea, which the Philippines won in 2016.
The Aquino family also thanked the supporters of Aquino as well as those who worked in his household during his final days.
"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," Abellada said.
The Philippine government has ordered that the country's flag be flown at half-mast to mourn Aquino's death.
