Former Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Vicente Emano. MindaNews file photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/07 May) – Political kingpin Vicente Y. Emano died at a hospital Tuesday morning, his friends said today.
Emano served as mayor and vice mayor of Cagayan de Oro, governor of Misamis Oriental, and as mayor of Tagoloan town of the same province.
Former city councilor Alden Bacal, a close political ally and friend, said Emano died at past 12am Tuesday at the Capitol University Medical Center in Barangay Gusa, this city.
Bacal said Emano, who was running for vice mayor in next Monday’s election, was confined at the hospital after complaining of difficulty in breathing.
He said the remains of the former mayor were cremated at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Cagayan de Oro.
He said burial was tentatively set on Saturday, May 11.
Emano, also the head of Padayon Pilipino political party, was 76.
“We had a talk Monday night and now this, I did not expect this,” Bacal said.
Constantino Jaraula, a former mayor and congressman of Cagayan de Oro, also expressed sadness for the passing of his political ally.
“It is very painful to accept that VYE is gone and gone forever. But his good deeds will remain forever in the gratitude of our people,” Jaraula said.
His political rival, Mayor Oscar Moreno, also sent his condolences to Emano’s family and son, Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Emano.
Former Cagayan de Oro Mayor Vicente Emano during the groundbreaking ceremonies of the Typhoon Sendong memorial at the city’s Gaston Park on March 23, 2012. MindaNews file photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
“My political career started in 1995, when I ran (and lost) under his group. Succeeding elections saw us in opposing camps, except only in 2004, when I ran for governor of Misamis Oriental for my first term. Over these past years, we fought a hard and long battle. It brought the best from each of us. But deep inside, we have remained friends. I have forgiven him, and I hope that he has forgiven me too,” Moreno said.
Emano rose to political prominence when he was appointed OIC-governor in 1986 under the revolutionary government of President Corazon Aquino, who came to power via the EDSA People Power Revolt.
Before that, he was a mayor of Tagoloan town and was a prominent figure in the struggle against President Ferdinand Marcos.
Emano won overwhelmingly in the 1988 elections and his reelection bids were successful under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) political party headed by ex-Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Emano and Pimentel had a fallout in mid-1990s leading to his resignation from the PDP.
He then founded Padayon Pilipino which remained a dominant regional political party. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
