TWO of the four sisters of former President Benigno S. Aquino III confirmed on Thursday (June 24) their brother’s passing earlier at 6:30 a.m, citing renal disease secondary to diabetes as the cause of death.
Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, the eldest of the Aquino siblings, briefly apologized to the crowd gathered at the Heritage Memorial Park, where his remains were taken from the hospital, and apologized for having kept them waiting. She then asked her sister Pinky to read the family’s official statement.
Pinky also apologized and explained they had to undergo pandemic protocols like a swab test before his body was released; hence, the 9-hour delay from the time of death at Capitol medical Center, where he was rushed at dawn from the family home on No,. 25 Times Street, Quezon City.
The family statement, written in Filipino, cited the 15th President’s trademark of keeping a low profile always, something that marked his “service to the nation—without fanfare, from the heart,” because he always considered people as “his boss.”
She said he knew that, whatever the cost, “kailangang sundin ang daang matuwid,” and he bore this burden of reform squarely, never flinching even when he was misunderstood and attacked for some controversial policies.
His sisters said it “was painful for us to accept that he just quietly absorbed the criticisms,” but, always, he told them not to worry “because I can still sleep at night.”
They recalled how how he faced all investigations launched after his presidency—before the Sandiganbayan, at the Senate and the House of Representatives, always personally bothering to appear and explain himself.
They thanked his doctors and nurses who “did everything possible” for him and respected his dignity; and those who took care of him at home—long-time aides who did not take days off in the pandemic to avoid exposing him to the Covid virus.
They thanked all those who worked with and for him, and kept up communications with him until the end, cheering him on and comforting him in his pain.
They thanked the nuns and priests who constantly prayed for him.
Finally, they thanked the Filipino people for their trust – the voters of 2nd district Of Tarlac who voted him for three House terms; the 14.3 million who elected him senator in 2007; and the 15.2 million who voted him president in 2010.
“No words can express how broken our hearts are, and how long it will take us to accept the reality he is gone now,” the family statement said.
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