Then Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Luwalhati R. Antonino (right, light blue shirt) pepares to cut the ribbon during the opening of MinDA’s Area Management Office in Surigao City on 13 July 2011. MindaNews file photo by ROEL N. CATOTO
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 30 October) – One of the city’s pillars and political matriarch, former Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chairperson and South Cotabato Representative Luwalhati “Lu” Ricasa Antonino passed away Monday, October 30.
She was 80.
Her family announced that masses were scheduled starting Monday evening to November 2 at her wake at Chapel 1 of the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig.
Close friends and political allies here offered tributes to Antonino and sympathies to her family. The cause of her death has not been disclosed.
“The City of General Santos mourns the death of one of its pillars, who had contributed a lot in all aspects of its development. Eternal repose unto your soul, Ma’am Lu. We will forever cherish you,” City Councilor Virgie Tiongson Llido said on Facebook.
Llido is a stalwart of the Achiever’s with Integrity Movement (AIM), a local political party founded by Luwalhati and her husband, former city mayor and South Cotabato representative Adelbert.
Luwalhati, who was born in Upi, Cotabato (now under Maguindanao del Norte) and raised in Kiamba, South Cotabato (now under Sarangani province), served as MinDA Chairperson with the rank of Secretary from 2010 to 2016 and as representative of this city and the first district of South Cotabato for three straight terms from 1992 to 2001.
She is the mother of former city mayor and South Cotabato first district representative Darlene Antonino-Custodio.
“My deepest condolences. Rest in peace Ma’am Lu,” said former city councilor and current City Administrator lawyer Franklin Gacal Jr. on Facebook.
“With a profound sense of sorrow, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences for the loss of the late Ma’am Luwalhati “Lu” Antonino, who departed this world today to be with our Creator. My deepest sympathies go out to her family during this difficult time,” said close ally Elmer Catulpos, Brigada Group of Companies founder and Chief Executive Officer, in a statement.
He said Luwalhati served the city, South Cotabato, and the entire Mindanao “as an unwavering pillar of strength, and her legacy will forever be etched in our hearts.”
“Her leadership and the profound warmth of her friendship, akin to that of a mother, will always be cherished, leaving an indelible mark on our lives,” added Catulpos, who ran but lost in the city’s mayoral race in the May 2022 elections under the AIM banner.
Luwalhati and other members of the Antonino family distanced themselves from the local political arena after Darlene’s failed reelection bid for city mayor in the 2013 polls but continued to backstop AIM candidates.
She endorsed and campaigned for Catulpos and other AIM bets, and joined a campaign sortie here of then Vice President Leni Robredo during the May 2022 presidential elections. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
