Former President Aquino Passes Away At 61

Former President Benigno Noynoy S. Aquino III, who championed “Daang Matuwid” campaign and scored a landmark ruling against China's aggressive claims in West Philippine Sea, has passed away Thursday morning, according to the family. He was 61.

- Genalyn Kabiling

Aquino, son of pro-democracy icons the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and the late President Corazon Aquino, died “peacefully in his sleep,” announced his sister Pinky Aquino-Abellada with “profound grief.”

“His death certificate pronounced his death at 6:30 a.m. due to renal disease secondary to diabetes. 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, reading the family's statement Thursday afternoon.

To her brother, she told him: “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 as our brother. We’ll miss you forever,” she said.

Reports earlier said Aquino was rushed to the Capital Medical Center in Quezon City. The former President, fondly called PNoy during his stint in Malacañang, reportedly battled lung and kidney ailments and went through dialysis in preparation for a kidney transplant. He previously had an angioplasty.