Vice President Leni Robredo described the untimely passing of former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III as “a very personal loss” to her family, but an even bigger loss to the country.

In an ambush interview with reporters on Friday, June 25, Robredo had nothing but kind words for the late former chief executive.

“Alam natin kung gaano kagrabeng sakripisyo iyong ginawa niya for the country. Pinakita niya iyong klase ng leadership na kinakailangan ng ating bansa,” Robredo said upon her arrival at Aquino’s wake at the Church of the Gesù in Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Quezon City.

(We know how much sacrifice he made for the country. He showed the kind of leadership our country needs.)

“Very personal for myself and the children. Kami mayroon kaming (We have a) very personal relationship with him. Siguro, bigger than the personal loss is iyong loss sa bansa natin, (Maybe, bigger than our personal loss, was the loss of our country).”

“Iyong pagkawala niya ay parang (his loss is perhaps the) end of an era. The challenge is upon every one of us to continue what he fought for,” she added.

Robredo and Aquino both belong to the Liberal Party. It was Aquino who offered the now-vice president to run for the country’s second highest post back in 2015.

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Earlier on Friday, supporters of Robredo held a prayer vigil outside the ADMU, where Aquino finished grade school, high school, and college. 

Ateneo president Fr. Bobby Yap led the vigil.

Organizers also asked vehicles that passed by to honk their horns in honor of the former president.

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Other politicians who granted the media an interview during the wake include former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who was Aquino’s backdoor negotiator with China over the West Philippine Sea dispute.

It was also Aquino who granted amnesty to mutinous soldiers like Trillanes, resulting in their release from jail in 2010. 

“Si PNoy ang nagbigay ng kalayaan sa akin (PNoy gave me my freedom),” he said. “I wouldn’t be here kung hindi dahil kay PNoy (I would not be here if not because of PNoy).”

“Marami kaming nagawa kapiling ang aming pamilya, nakapagsilbi kami sa bayan (we have done a lot of things with our family, and we were able to serve the country), all because of that act of generosity, kindness, and magnanimity of PNoy,” he added.

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Noynoy, the only son of Philippine democracy icons Benigno Aquino Jr. and Corazon Aquino, died in his sleep on Thursday morning due to renal disease secondary to diabetes. He was 61. — with reports from Mara Cepeda/Rappler.com