FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III (R) leads government officials, including Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. (L), in reciting the pledge of allegiance in his first flag ceremony since assuming office at Malacanang Palace in Manila on July 5, 2010. Aquino has vowed to rid the government of corruption, bridge a yawning deficit, and go after his graft-tainted predecessor. AFP PHOTO / JAY DIRECTO
MANILA, Philippines — Former executive secretary Paquito Ochoa mourned the death of former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, who he said had “selflessly served” Filipinos during his term as chief executive.
Ochoa, who was the executive secretary during Aquino’s term, recalled the former president as “my friend, my boss, and my president.”
“In the years I worked with him he was a conscientious public servant who sincerely believed it was his duty to do everything he could to improve the lives of his bosses—the Filipino people—whom he selflessly served,” Ochoa said.
“I join the country in mourning the loss of an honest, principled, and uncompromising leader—someone who believed in doing the right thing and inspired many others to do the same,” he added.
Aquino died at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City. He served as the country’s 15th president from 2010 to 2016.