Former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is now resting where there are no fake news and trolls, Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in his homily during the funeral mass Saturday.
Aquino had largely kept silent since stepping down in 2016, even in the face of online criticism. It's a dignified silence, said Villegas, a family friend. "It is the silence of noble statesmen now rare and forgotten," the archbishop said.
Villegas said he envied Aquino who crossed over to a place where "fake news have no place, trolls are dead, God's name is not blasphemed."
"He died as he lived. He abhorred fanfare. He slipped away quietly... Walang wang-wang. very PNoy and not surprising."
"The lights at Times Street have been distinguished, but there is no darkness," he said, referring to the Aquino family home in Quezon City.
Villegas described Aquino as a "visionary na matigas ang ulo" whose death "must spark fire within us to ressurect decency and integrity."
"Buti pa si PNoy, malaya na talaga," he said. "There is a new great Filipino in heaven, joining his great Filipino parents."
“Kami po ang boss ninyo kayo po ang aming champion. May you find the rest Earth has failed to give to you," Villegas said in tears as he ended his homily.