MANILA, Philippines—The remains of Mary Ejercito, who passed away Tuesday afternoon at the age of 103, will be brought to a simple chapel which was built as soon as her most famous son became President.

Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito, the mayor of San Juan City said the remains of his grandmother shall lie in state at the St. Joseph Chapel of the Saint John the Baptist Parish in San Juan City, most likely beginning Wednesday.

The chapel is often used for special occasions like baptisms chapel but on Tuesday night, church volunteers and city employees were already preparing the place and the 112-year-old church for the wake.

A church volunteer, who spoke to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on condition of anonymity, said Doña Mary, as the Ejercito matriarch was fondly called, was a religious woman and the church was special to her and the Ejercito family.

The volunteer said the church, also known as Pinaglabanan church, is a few meters from where Doña Mary’s old house used to stand. It was also where she used to go to mass with her children when she was a lot younger.

The weddings of her grandsons Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Mayor JV Ejercito to their respective wives were both held in the church.

Even when she was ill, Doña Mary still received communion every day, the volunteer said.

On Tuesday noon, the family fetched parish priest Fr. Frank Ungria and brought him to the San Juan Medical Center to pray for Doña Mary.

The chapel, which was opened by former president Joseph Estrada on June 29, 1998, a few weeks after he was elected, is simple with 10 benches, four old air-conditioners and five electric fans.

It is next to the Divine Peace room, which is used by the church for mortuary services, but the latter is too small to accommodate the huge crowd expected to visit the wake.