Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino is buried in Manila | Philippine News

Hundreds of mourners wearing black and white ribbons and masks on their faces were found at the funeral and burial ceremony.

Former President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino, is buried in Manila next to his parents, two of the most iconic figures in Southeast Asia.

Hundreds of mourners dressed in black and white, others dressed in yellow ribbons – a color linked to the Aquino family and the 1986 coup that toppled the dictator – and turned their faces, attended the funeral and burial on Saturday.

Aquino, President from 2010 to 2016, died at the age of 61 at a Manila hospital Thursday following a kidney transplant. His bodies were cremated Thursday.

“To the person we were blessed to be with as our brother, we will be proud of you forever, thank you, wishing you and loving you,” Maria Elena Aquino-Cruz, Aquino’s older sister, said at the funeral. “To all of you, sirs Noy, thank you.”

Filipinos lined the streets to pay their respects to the hour-long drive from alma mater, Ateneo de Manila University, to the cemetery south of the capital.

The military saluted 21 rifles and a helicopter dropped yellow flowers. At Aquino’s house in the center of the capital, aid workers left chrysanthemums, a yellow bell, and a sunflower for the deceased leader.

Among those who paid tribute to Aquino were the vice president and fellow politician Leni Robredo, as well as close friends. Many followers were locked at the entrance to the cemetery to prevent mass gathering and the spread of COVID-19.

Known as Noynoy, Aquino rose to prominence in the presidential race after the death of his mother in 2009, the respected “People Power” leader of Corazon Aquino who was President from 1986 to 1992.

His father, namedakeake, the violent dictator of the dictatorship Ferdinand Marcos, was assassinated when he returned from a political coup in 1983, sowing seeds of the People Power revolution in 1986 that ousted the man.

As President, young Aquino led the Philippines in tackling the endless “Asian patient” through good governance and strong economic growth.

He challenged Beijing’s claim to the South China Sea in a court case in The Hague in 2013.

President Rodrigo Duterte did not attend the funeral. He announced the end of the 10-day deadline, with national flags flying in the air.

Aquino, who has retired from secular employment, has left behind four sisters.

Philippine dignitaries march as they escort a wagon carrying the urn of the last President [Ted Aljibe/ AFP]