Makati City
10 December 2013

President Benigno S. Aquino III signed the book of condolences for the late South African President Nelson Mandela at the South African Embassy.
“May your life truly well lived continue to shine as the exemplar for all who strive to make this a better world,” the President wrote.
In a separate event, President Aquino said that he is saddened by the passing of one of his idols. However, due to his prior commitment to join the 40th Commemoration of the ASEAN-Japan Summit, he will not be able to attend Mandela’s state funeral.
The late South African President Nelson Mandela was known in history as a human rights champion and a 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner which reads “for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa”.

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