Manila, June 24: Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III died at the age of 61 early on Thursday, after a prolonged illness, according to media reports.

Al Jazeera reported that Aquino served as the country's 15th president from 2010 to 2016, and was succeeded in office by the incumbent, Rodrigo Duterte.

"It is with profound sadness that I learned this morning of the passing of former President Benigno S Aquino III," Supreme Court Justice Marvic Leonen, who was appointed by Aquino in 2012, said in a statement.

"I knew him to be a kind man, driven by his passion to serve our people. I saw him carry his title with dignity and integrity," added Leonen, who had also served as Aquino's peace negotiator with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

CNN reported that Aquino, popularly known as "Noynoy," was died at the Capitol Medical Center near the capital Manila, as per state media.

An economist by training, Aquino worked in the family sugar business before launching his political career in 1998. He served three terms as Congressman in the House of Representatives before becoming a senator in 2007.

He was the only son of popular democracy icons Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino and former President Corazon Aquino. His father, a senator who opposed the rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was assassinated in 1983 on returning home from exile in the United States.

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