RIP: Philippine former president ‘Noynoy’ Aquino dies

Philippine former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino has died at the age of 61, ABS-CBN News Channel is reporting, citing multiple sources close to his family.

The cause of death is not immediately clear, though local media has reported he was rushed to Capitol Medical Center in Metro Manila on Thursday. The former president, a bachelor, was known to be a chain smoker, which raised concerns about his health while he was in the office.

Aquino, son of democracy icons former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and former president Corazon Aquino, was president from 2010 to 2016.

On the foreign policy front, Aquino bolstered defense ties with the U.S., sealing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which gives American troops an increased presence for longer periods in the Philippines.

In 2012, a controversial issue, stand-off of the Philippine navy ship with china ship, after a year 2013, his administration took China to a U.N. arbitration court over a South China Sea territorial dispute, a legal case Manila won about a week after Aquino stepped down in 2016.

After the election of incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, with vast support from majority of the Filipinos, who hails from a different party, Aquino stepped out of the political limelight.