MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III sent Senate President Franklin Drilon as the Philippines’ representative in the funeral of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the senator’s office said Tuesday, March 24. 

“The President has asked me to represent him and the Filipino people as we join the nation of Singapore in this time of grieving for the loss of a great Asian leader, former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew,” Drilon said in a statement.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima will join Drilon in Singapore.

Lee will be cremated on Sunday, March 29, after a state funeral and 7 days of national mourning. 

The iron-fisted Lee died on Monday at the Singapore General Hospital following a long illness. He was in the hospital for nearly 7 weeks with severe pneumonia.

In his statement, Drilon said Filipinos “are deeply affected by Lee’s death.”

“Lee Kuan Yew showed us that resolute political will can positively transform nations and societies and uplift them from the shackles of poverty,” Drilon said.

Philippines: Lee a ‘visionary’

On Monday, Aquino sent his condolences to Lee’s son, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The Office of the Philippine President, Malacañang, said Lee “demonstrated an unswerving devotion to his country, turning it into a state that would be an exemplar of efficient, modern, and honest governance.”

“The development of Singapore has earned it the respect of nations and peoples, including the tens of thousands of Filipinos who work there and visit the country,” Malacañang said.

In a separate statement, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs added that Lee was a “visionary statesman” who “built Singapore into an economic powerhouse and modern society that has been a positive force not only in the region but also in the world.”

Lee served as prime minister from 1959, when colonial ruler Britain granted self-rule, to 1990, leading Singapore to independence in 1965 after a brief and stormy union with Malaysia. (READ/WATCH: Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore he built)

Singapore now has one of the world’s highest per capita incomes and its residents enjoy near-universal home ownership, low crime rates and first-class infrastructure. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com