MANILA (UPDATED)- Former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will be remembered as someone who was fond of food, sweet drinks, and who had keen attention to detail, his friends and former staff have said, a week after his passing.

Noynoy’s best friend Romy Mercado said the late Philippine leader once asked him to buy a “Lifesavers” candy, his favorite, ahead of his family’s trip to the United States.

Mercado also said Aquino asked them to buy food seasoning for him, as he was really particular about his comfort food.

“Lagi siyang nagpapabili noon eh, seasoning na nilalagay niya sa ulam tsaka kanin,” he said on Jing Castaneda’s show.

(He had always asked us to buy him his food seasoning that he liked to put on his food or rice.)

Aquino’s nephew Jiggy Cruz said his uncle really liked putting food seasoning in his dishes, most especially the Maggi seasoning.

“Kung audiophile si Tito Noy, I think people should also know na pati sa mga lasa, yung the slightest differences, nakukuha niya,” according to Cruz.

(If he was an audiophile, the public should also know that he was also particular with a food's taste. He knows the slightest differences.)

• READ: This beloved Greenhills steakhouse will surely miss its favorite VIP customer
• READ: 'Hindi palautos': PNoy's househelp remembers the late president

The two also disclosed that Noynoy knew how different a particular soda tasted in each country that he had visited, that was why he kept several cans from his trips abroad.

“Nasa labas kami ng Pilipinas. Sasabihin niya, ‘Ibang lasa dito; Sa Malaysia, iba; Sa Thailand, iba.' Kaya minsan, gusto niya nagdadala siya ng ilang lata lang na galing sa Pilipinas. Iba daw lasa. ‘Di ko nga [mawari] yun eh. Pero siya, alam niya,” said Mercado, noting that the former president always had chicharon with him when they were together in case he got hungry.

(We were outside the Philippines and he told me this drink is different from what I tasted from Malaysi and Thailand. I barely even noticed it.)

Aquino passed away early Thursday last week due to renal disease secondary to diabetes at the age of 61.

His friends had said he was gearing up for a kidney transplant ahead of his death and was undergoing dialysis.

HENARES CLOSED PNOY’S FAVORITE RESTO

Former Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said she remembered closing down Aquino’s favorite Korean restaurant, which was why he told her to learn how to cook Korean dishes.

“One day, he wants to go to eat dinner. When his advance went there, there was this streamer that says, 'This restaurant is closed by BIR.' His advance did not know how to tell him, [so] they took a picture and sent the picture to him,” Henares recalled. .

WATCH

Video courtesy of Jing Castaneda

“I don’t know whether he was joking. But he said, to tell me, that I should learn how to cook Korean food because I closed his favorite restaurant… Ang sabi ko naman, 'Hayaan niyo, mag-aaral ako ng Korean food'.”

Jo Anne Haber, Aquino’s private assistant when he was president, said he read all the things he was about to sign, and even required her to screen and vet documents before he takes a hold of it.

She also described the late chief executive as someone who was keen on even the smallest details.

• PNoy was My Boss: A delayed dispatch from an ex-Palace speechwriter
• What his friend and ex-boss PNoy would have wanted, according to Mar Roxas

“Ako yung gatekeeper niya. Lahat ng papeles, lahat ng dokumento na kanyang pipirmahan, dadaan 'yan sa akin… Lagi niyang sinasabi sa akin, ‘Jo, hindi puwedeng pirmahan ‘yan hanggang hindi tama’,” Haber shared.

(I was the gatekeeper of the documents he had to sign. All of it had to pass through me first. He told me before that he would not sign it unless it is correctly formatted or complete.)

Aquino was alert and always monitored emergencies even in the middle of the night, most especially when there were typhoons, according to her.

“There was a time na nalaglag ako sa kama ko kasi may tawag akong kailangan sagutin… Nakakatuwa siya kasi hindi siya natutulog. Binabantayan niya talaga kapag minsan may masamang panahon. Inaalala niya kung handa ba tayo… with the emergency,” she said.

(I fell off my bed one time because I had to answer his call. I admired him because it seemed he never slept. He was monitoring things most especially during emergencies.)

LOVED TO TELL JOKES

For his friends like councilor Mayen Juico, the PNoy they knew loved to tell jokes.

"His humor and wit is incomparable, although dry in other people's opinion, to me it was second to none. I look forward to seeing him kasi alam kong may sasabihin na nakakatawa. At komportableng komportable ako around him," recalls Juico.

HUMBLE, ADVOCATE OF PRESS FREEDOM

During Wednesday’s novena mass for Aquino, his friends and loved ones said he was an advocate of press freedom and was humble despite being criticized as the country’s top leader.

Former Health Secretary Chit Reodica said Aquino supported projects of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or ICM nuns-- who helped his parents during the Martial Law years.

PNoy was also well loved by the ICM nuns, who have maintained a close relationship with the Aquinos.

"We will remember him as an example of a true statesman, a man of decency, dignity and of ethical leadership to serve his country the best way he could," Reodica said in her tribute.

Former journalist Nikko Dizon remembers how PNoy upheld press freedom when she covered his presidency as a palace beat reporter.

"It is often said that President Noy had a testy relationship with the media. Probably. But for sure, the media had the freedom whatever they wanted to write," she said in her tribute message.

"I went to Malacanang every day, went to every Presidential coverage without having to worry about trolls or having to deal with some nasty answers."

"We may not have always agreed with each other, but we always had decent conversations," she said.

The Novena Mass for Aquino began on June 27, at 6:30 p.m., and will continue until Friday, July 2.

‘AQUINO ADMIN WALKED THE TALK’

Motoo Konishi, World Bank’s former country director for the Philippines, hailed Aquino’s administration, saying they learned from him.

In a Facebook post, Konishi said PNoy's push for global partnership, anti-corruption efforts, transparency, and paricipatory governance led to the Philippines' economic growth under his term.

This, he said, resulted in the "fastest economic growth rates globally" that even rivaled China.

He also underscored the completion by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) of the Typhoon Yolanda reconstruction plan "in less than 6 months" after the calamity, using the donated billions worth of dollars.

"A complete game changer in the world of post disaster reconstruction planning and it has now set a new global standard on disaster response. In addition, to reduce and mitigate the financial burden caused by natural disasters, (the Department of Finance) instructed the World Bank to create a wholly new Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program," according to Konishi.

He also cited how the World Bank saw how Aquino's government made its vision come into fruition, thus "inspiring" them to cooperate with them.

"The Aquino administration was committed to delivering on its promises to the Filipino people and knew how to maximize the resources available to them to ensure that these objectives were met," he noted.

"Dear President Aquino, on behalf of all the World Bank staff who worked on the Philippines during your administration, it’s been a true honor and privilege to serve you," Konishi said.

—With a report from Jasmin Romero, ABS-CBN News

WATCH

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv