PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte was noticeably absent at the wake and funeral of former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
The chief executive did not attend his predecessor’s wake at The Heritage Park in Taguig where Aquino’s remains were first brought for cremation on Thursday, June 24 nor at the public viewing at the Church of the Gesu in Ateneo de Manila University on Friday, June 25.
Instead, he sent a funeral wreath during the public viewing.
Aquino, who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016, died of renal disease on Thursday.
Malacañang on Monday, June 28, maintained that Duterte wanted to drop by at Heritage Park on Thursday but the ashes had already been moved to the Aquino residence in Quezon City when the president concluded a meeting with officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“He stopped the discussion at 11 p.m. because he said he wanted to go to the wake of former president Noynoy Aquino. He said in public, ‘Noynoy was a friend, not a close friend, but a friend. I supported him in 2010 elections but I did not support his successor,’” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said at a press briefing.
“So, he wanted to go, but he was informed that the urn of the former president had already been moved to the private residence in Times, so the president was not able to visit,” he added.
Duterte was also a no-show at Aquino’s inurnment at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City on Saturday, June 26.
Asked about his absence, Roque guessed the pandemic might be the reason.
“Hindi ko na po alam kung bakit (I do not know why). It could be because it’s pandemic and we are trying to limit the numbers and, of course, the presence of the president would encourage crowds,” the spokesman said.
Among Duterte’s Cabinet members who paid their respects to Aquino at the Church of the Gesu were Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Vice President Leni Robredo as well as Aquino’s colleagues from the cabinet including his former running-mate and Interior secretary Mar Roxas, Senators Francis Pangilinan, Joel Villanueva, and Francis Tolentino also attended the wake.
Meanwhile, Filipino singers Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez, Jaya, and Moira Dela Torre lent their voices and offered song tributes for Aquino.
A proclamation declaring June 24 to July 3, 2021 as a “period of national mourning” was signed by Duterte in honor of the late president.
