MANILA— Elly Pamatong, a perennial presidential aspirant who was several times declared a nuisance candidate, passed away in July due to cardiac arrest, his spokesperson said Friday.

Pamatong, a lawyer and self-styled founder of the United States Allied Freedom Fighters of the East, died due to cardiac arrest at the age of 78 on July 24.

“In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated and inurned last August 1, 2021. His cremated remains are in the chapel of his group in Bitas, Arayat, Pampanga, in the same place where he passed away,” his spokesperson Rameses Javier Casten said in a press statement.

Pamatong, a critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, attempted to run for president in the 2004, 2010 and 2016 polls, but was declared a nuisance candidate by Commission on Elections.

He also earned the tag "spike boy" after ordering followers to throw spikes on EDSA in the wake of his failed presidential attempt in 2004.

The Supreme Court suspended Pamatong from the practice of law in 2016 over his "slanderous" language against a judge whom he accused of committing corrupt acts.

• SC suspends Elly Pamatong over slanderous language

He also faced charges in 2018 after authorities raided his group's camp in Barangay Tablon, Cagayan de Oro City. The raid yielded a caliber .45 pistol with bullets and two fragmentation grenades.

In 2019, Pamatong burned the Malaysian flag in relation to the Sabah dispute, prompting condemnation from Kuala Lumpur.

• Malaysian gov't condemns burning of its flag by Elly Pamatong

— reports from Chrislen Bulosan and Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News