LOOK: The urn of former president Noynoy Aquino at The Heritage Park. @rapplerdotcom
Still no final detail from the family if the public will be allowed to visit. Urn will be in Ateneo tomorrow.
Kris Aquino: "Ganun ka simple, sana maintindihan ninyo, we did not think it would happen this soon, and we are just trying our best na hindi magkaroon ng superspreader"
Aquino: Hindi namin pinagdadamot sa mga tao dahil alam naman marami ang nagmahal at sumuporta kay Noy...Thank you sa honor guard na pinadala ngayon pero nirerespeto namin na nandito pa rin tayo sa gitna ng isang pandemya. We would have wanted so much more for our brother.
Kris Aquino: Nagpapasalamat kami sa Malacañang dahil nag reach out sila, nagpapasalamat kami kay Presidente Duterte kasi nararamdaman namin ang sinseridad na pag-condole sa pamilya namin. Thank you kay ES Medialdea because he offered us everything we wanted.
Kris Aquino: Under normal circumstances, Noy served in Congress and in the Senate, he could have been lying in state in Malacañang but nirerespeto na hindi pa lahat ng tao sa Pilipinas ay nababakunahan.
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The tributes by the former Aquino cabinet follows a casual program. As they speak, the public is allowed to view. Speaking now is former ES Jojo Ochoa. He's the first to speak, recalling light moments in the Cabinet. @rapplerdotcom
Ochoa says Noynoy's "punching bags" were his classmates, among them Sec Rene Almendras, the absorber of Pnoy's frustration toward the Cabinet. Ochoa jokes: Kayong apat, congrats, retired na kayo.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno has arrived. He's currently talking to the Aquino sisters as the former Cabinet pays their tributes.
Fr Bert Alejo presides over the 8pm mass here at the Church of the Gesù; it's a mass courtesy of PNoy's cabinet members. Ex DOTC Sec Jun Abaya was first reading, Justice Ben Caguioa (ex SOJ) was responsorial psalm. @rapplerdotcom
Fr Alejo says he saw PNoy at a mass for Senator De Lima, and says De Lima is an example of how the present government treats people.
Fr Alejo is one of the two priests on trial for conspiracy to commit sedition over the Bikoy videos. Fr Alejo says "PNoy's death comes at the wake of a new political era."
Fr Jett Villarin says mass here in a full, physically distanced, Church of the Gesù. Fr Villarin shares his last conversations with PNoy which was about the latter's medical operations. @rapplerdotcom
Fr Jett shares they used to ask former Deped Sec Bro Armin Luistro why he would serve PNoy's cabinet. Luistro said PNoy would always ask how their decision would affect the poor. Fr Jett says, citing Bro Armin: "kung yan ang tanong ng pinuno, paano kang hindi maglilingkod?"
Fr Jett says PNoy's last text to him was about how broken hearts are hard to endure but with their grade school hamburger, there's hope. Fr Jett: Noy alam ko sa langit gutom ka pa rin at broken hearted ka pa rin para sa amin.
A solemn noon for PNoy at the Church of Gesù at the Ateneo where mourners are still lining up for today's public viewing until 10pm @rapplerdotcom
Funeral wreaths from DND, Court of Appeals, RTVM, Senators Bong Go, Bato dela Rosa and former Sen Jinggoy Estrada are among the few wreaths by the side of the Church of Gesù
A common thread of stories here among friends is that they knew to some extent PNoy was sick, but they didn't expect for him to die so soon. His cabinet knew but was still surprised, says Senator Kiko Pangilinan
White flowers and book of condolences at the reception of The Chapels at the Heritage Park for former president Aquino. Among visitors have been Justice Ben Caguioa and Samira Gutoc @rapplerdotcom
Visitors go straight to the chapel where they are staying until now. Once or twice, former Palace Usec Abi Valte will go out to assist them, like this with former House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. Ex DOH Sec and now Rep Janette Garin also inside
Malabon Mayor Lenlen Oreta, PNoy's cousin, says although the family has known of the former president's illness, the death also seems so sudden. Oreta recalls moments where PNoy would train him in Karate
SC Justice Ben Caguioa, Aquino's former justice secretary and presidential legal counsel, says of PNoy: "If there is anything I will remember President Noy for, it was his immense respect for the Law. He believed in and lived by the Rule of Law." @rapplerdotcom
Justice Caguioa: This is why he always said that if we really believed in democracy, then we have to be patient with democracy - to stand by democracy amidst all the noise and dissent it invites and engenders.
Caguioa: That was his integrity -- to stand by democracy and uphold the law that guarantees freedom. I am very honored to have worked for and with him in his Quixotic quest. I am deeply humbled to have been regarded by Noy as his friend.