Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino buried in Manila Philippine news

Hundreds of people dressed in black and white ribbons and face masks attended the funeral mass and burial ceremony.

Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino has been placed in the Manila cemetery next to his parents, two of the country’s icons of democracy in Southeast Asia.

Hundreds of black-and-white mourners, some wearing yellow ribbons – the 1986 revolution that drew the color and dictator associated with the Aquino family – and face masks were at a funeral and burial ceremony on Saturday.

Aquino, President from 2010 to 2016, He died at the age of 61 on Thursday at a Manila hospital after a kidney failure. His remains were cremated on Thursday.

“We were as happy as the brother we were with the man, we will always be proud of you, thank you, I long for you and I love you,” said Maria Elena Aquino-Cruz Aquino’s older sister at the funeral mass on Saturday. “Thank you to all the Noyko bosses.”

Filipinos lined up on the roads in dozens of hour-long vehicles to pay their respects from their alma mater, the Ateneo de Manila University, to the capital’s southern cemetery.

The military greeted 21 gunmen and a helicopter shot yellow flowers. At the Aquino residence in the heart of the capital, supporters left chrysanthemums, yellow bells and sunflowers to the leader.

Among those who paid tribute to Aquino were Vice President Leni Robredo and a political ally and close friend. Most of the followers were blocked at the entrance to the cemetery to prevent crowds from gathering and spreading COVID-19.

Known as Noynoy, Aquino gave him public support for the presidency in 2009 after the death of his mother, the famous leader of the “People’s Power” Corazon Aquino, who was president from 1986 to 1992.

His eponymous father, a staunch critic of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was assassinated when he returned from political exile in 1983, when he stepped down from power by planting the seeds for the 1986 People’s Power Revolution.

As president, the younger Aquino led the Philippines through the “sick Asian man” with his enduring image through better governance and strong economic growth.

In 2013, he challenged Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea before the Hague Arbitration Court.

President Rodrigo Duterte did not attend the funeral. He expressed grief for 10 days as national flags were flown in the middle of the mast in government buildings.

Aquino, who had a private life after leaving office, has four surviving sisters.

The Philippine military honor guards are escorting the wagon carrying the urn of the former president [Ted Aljibe/ AFP]