AFP holds gun salute in honor of ex-President Noynoy Aquino

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Friday morning held a reveille gun salute in Camp Aguinaldo in honor of the late former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, military chief General Cirilito Sobejana said.

According to Sobejana, the gun salute started at 6 a.m. “Kaninang umaga, 6 o'clock, reveille gun salute (Earlier in the morning at 6 o-clock, we conducted a reveille gun salute) ,” he told reporters.

At 10 a.m., Sobejana read a statement of the Armed Forces on the death of its former commander-in-chief. He added that commanders of subordinate units held similar ceremonies simultaneously.

In a statement, the AFP said the eight-gun salute were also simultaneously fired in Fort Andres Bonifacio in Taguig City; Jesus Villamor Air Base in Pasay City; Fort Abad in Manila; Fort Gregorio del Pilar in Baguio City; and in all AFP Unified Command Headquarters in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

“With wisdom and prudence, President Aquino steadfastly steered our country towards economic stability and through the many disasters and challenges that we faced during his term as our leader,” Sobejana said.

Sobejana acknowledged that the contribution of the Aquino administration in the modernization of the Armed Forces in acquiring new equipment for the military has continued.

More ceremonies to honor Aquino will be conducted in the afternoon, according to him.

Interviewed on CNN Philippines on Thursday, AFP spokesperson Major General Edgard Arevalo said eight guns or cannons will be fired successively starting 5 a.m. on Friday.

“After the eight round of canon fire, there will be one round of cannon to be fired at 7 o’clock in the morning and then every one hour thereafter. Until the hour of 5, there will be another salvo and another round of eight salvos in succession,” he said.

The eight rounds represent the eight provinces that participated in the Philippine Revolution, he explained.

On the date of the funeral, Saturday, Arevalo said the AFP will give the former president a 21-gun salute.

Aquino will be buried on Saturday at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque City, where his father former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino were laid to rest.

Noynoy was the 15th president of the Philippines who served from 2010 to 2016. — Joviland Rita/RSJ, GMA News