(SunStar) (UPDATED) Former President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino III, 61, was laid to rest with full military honors shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday, June 26, 2021.

The urn containing the cremated remains of Aquino was interred beside his parents, the late former senator Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr. and the late former President Corazon “Cory” C. Aquino, at the Manila Memorial Park.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, in his homily during the funeral mass for Aquino Saturday morning, described the former President who was also known as PNoy as a “brave, headstrong visionary” whose focused vision was the rule of his leadership.

“PNoy died as he lived. He served without fanfare. He abhorred power trappings and power tripping. He slipped away quietly as much as possible disturbing no one. Walang wang-wang, very PNoy and not surprising,” Villegas said.

He hoped that Aquino’s “death will spark another fire within us to resurrect his example of decency and integrity.”

Villegas, a former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, urged Filipinos to take notice of what is happening in the country.

“Eulogies have been written and spoken and shared. But the best eulogy tribute we can pay to our dear President Noy is to bring back, recover, preserve, safeguard and never again to compromise our dignity as a people and the decency of our leaders as servants, not bosses,” Villegas said.

“The flags at half-mast are not only for the dead President, but for the dying decent governance. Tayo ang boss n’ya. He lived by it. We are grateful for it,” he added.

Aquino was the 15th President of the Philippines, serving from 2010 to 2016.

He died in his sleep as the sun rose on June 24, 2021. His family later announced that his death certificate traced his death to renal disease secondary to diabetes.

During his administration, the Philippines stood up to China and won an arbitration ruling that dismissed China’s nine-dash claim over the South China Sea.

He was charged over the Mamasapano bloodbath that killed 60 people, including 44 Special Action Forces men. But the Supreme Court cleared him of all charges.

His administration was also criticized over its handling of the aftermath of the Supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013 and the Dengvaxia controversy that erupted in December 2017.