Leonen: Noynoy Aquino carried his title with dignity, integrity

Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen on Thursday mourned the passing of former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, who appointed him to the high tribunal in 2012.

In a statement, Leonen said it was an honor to have served with Aquino in government.

"It is with profound sadness that I learned this morning of the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III. I knew him to be a kind man, driven by his passion to serve our people, diligent in his duties, and with an avid and consuming curiosity about new knowledge and the world in general,” the magistrate said.

“I saw him carry his title with dignity and integrity. It was an honor to have served with him. He will be missed.”

Prior to his appointment to the SC in November 2012, Leonen served as Aquino’s chief negotiator in the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Aquino’s other remaining appointees in the SC are Justices Estela Perlas Bernabe and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa. 

“If there is anything I will remember President Noy for, it was his immense respect for the law. He believed in and lived by the rule of law,” said Caguioa, who briefly served as Aquino’s justice secretary.

“This is why he always said that if we really believed in democracy, then we have to be patient with democracy — to stand by democracy amidst all the noise and dissent it invites and engenders.”

Caguioa said he was “deeply humbled” to have been treated by Aquino as his friend.

“The country will miss him. I will miss him,” he said.

Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno recalled that she had never heard “any talk of him asking any favor from any of his appointees in the judiciary.”

“He may have been initially so frustrated with the Supreme Court invalidating the Disbursement Acceleration Program but eventually he accepted it. He set aside whatever disagreements he had with the judiciary, and gave full support to increase its capacity for reform,” she said.

“Former President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III was a good man, a responsible leader. Some of our presidents will be remembered for how they tried to subject independent institutions to conform to their will; in contrast, President Aquino will be remembered for how he invested in the long-term strengthening of institutions of justice and accountability.”

Aquino appointed Sereno, then a junior magistrate, to the country’s highest judicial post in August 2012.

She was removed by her colleagues six years later on the ground of lack of integrity, citing her incomplete submission of wealth declarations when she applied for the position.

“For your precious words to me: ‘Just do the right thing,’ my family and I, and may I venture, all public officials who value integrity and independence, feel deeply honored. You will never be forgotten,” Sereno said. — Virgil Lopez/KBK/RSJ, GMA News