Governor Emilio Macias II has passed away.
Macias, 76, succumbed to liver cancer shortly past 3 a.m. Sunday dawn at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City, where he has been confined for exactly one month. {{more}}
Dr. Mark Macias, one of the governor’s physician-sons, said things turned for the worse after they issued a medical bulletin Saturday afternoon, as his vital signs became erratic.
Macias said they would cremate the body, in accordance with his father’s wishes. The ashes of the late Gov. Emilio C. Macias II will be brought to the Bonifacio Chapel of the Manila Memorial Park along Sucat Road, Paranaque at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Philippine time, and will be flown to Dumaguete by Wednesday morning.
The Governor, who was reelected to a second term in the May 2010 elections, had also served as governor of Negros Oriental from 1988 to 1998. He then served as Representative of the Second District for three terms from 1998 to 2007.
Macias was born on October 8, 1933 to then Congressman Lamberto L. Macias and Estrella Cabrera Macias.
He was educated at the West City Elementary School in Dumaguete City, then at Silliman University for his High School and Associate in Arts (Pre-Medicine). He then completed his degree in Doctor of Medicine from the University of the Philippines.
He married his classmate, Dr. Melba Pandy Lopez, and together, they practiced medicine in the family-owned Manuel L. Teves Memorial Hospital in Dumaguete until 1984. They have six children–Eileen Marie, Emilio III, Lamberto II, Edward Mark, Erwin Michael & Eleanor.
Macias began his political career in 1973, when he was elected as a delegate to the 1972 Constitutional Convention. In 1975, he was appointed to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Oriental and was elected as vice-governor in 1980. From 1985 to 1986, he was appointed as Deputy Minister in the Department of Health.
Macias had also served as chairman of the board and president of the Rural Bank of Siaton from 1974 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1980. In 1978, he also founded the Manuel L. Teves Memorial Hospital School of Midwifery, where he sat as a director until 1996.
Vice Governor Jose Baldado said he was saddened about the news of Macias’ death. “This is a sad day for the Province of Negros Oriental,” Baldado told the MetroPost.
Baldado said he was informed of Macias’ death by Cong. George Arnaiz and Board Member Erwin Macias.
Baldado said that he and Macias were friends, even though they became political opponents in the last election.
“I really feel so bad about this news,” he said.
Baldado said he has formed a committee that will ensure a smooth transition at the Capitol for the remaining two weeks of his term.
He also said he was arranging an immediate meeting with his confidants to discuss the implications of this event.