MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE) For former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official Samuel Ong, one of the whistleblowers in the 2005 wiretapping and electoral fraud scandal that almost unseated President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, there would be no closure on the controversy.

Ong, one of the principal players in the saga that stemmed from leaked recordings of the alleged conversations between Arroyo and poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano over a supposed plan to tamper votes in her favor, died around 6 p.m. Friday in his room at the intensive care unit of the Chinese General Hospital.

Since last year, Ong had been battling an advanced stage of lung cancer, the cause of his death, his son Samuel Ong Jr. confirmed. He was 64.

The former NBI deputy director expired just after supporters, including former president Joseph Estrada and actor Rez Cortez, who was with Ong and ex-Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines T/Sgt. Vidal Doble when they revealed the master copies of the recordings in June 2004 at the San Carlos Seminary, visited him at his bedside Friday.

Cortes said Ong was given the last sacraments by Bishop Teodoro Bacani last Wednesday as Ong's family was told that would die ?any day now.?

On June 10, 2005, Bacani provided shelter for Ong and his others in the seminary, where they sought refuge after Ong revealed the existence of the master copies that he said were entrusted to him by a source.

Ong's death was made poignant by the fact that the fourth-year anniversary of the ?Hello, Garci? tape revelations is just two weeks away on June 6, Cortes said. ?It's really sad that he would die around this time,? Cortes said.

Ong's older brother, Henry, said it was difficult for the family to accept that his brother, whom he described as a ?principled man? would never witness any closure on the ?Hello, Garci? scandal that he helped reveal. ?It is very painful for us, very painful,? a teary-eyed Henry said.

Ong's revelations of the controversy were a source of family pride, friends and family members said. ?They were saddened, but I know that they were proud of what he did,? Bacani said.

?He really fought for the truth,? Cortes said.

Estrada, before he went to Ong's room, said the former lawyer should be hailed as a ?hero.? ?For me, he is a hero of truth. I admire him for making public the Garci tapes,? he said.

?If not for him, all the cheating and the deceit they did to my friend and to the Filipino people would not be known,? referring to the late actor and 2004 opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr.

The opposition believed that Arroyo, along with Garcillano and top military generals in Mindanao, colluded to tamper the results of the 2004 presidential elections by shaving off one million votes from Poe's count and adding it to Arroyo's numbers.

The disclosure that the President cheated her way to victory triggered massive street protests and impeachment complaints against her. Four years on, the controversy has yet to have a clear ending.

Arroyo had denied accusations of electoral fraud. However, at the height of the protests against her, she issued a carefully-worded nationwide address on television apologizing for calling the election official.

Garcillano, purportedly the ?Garci? in the wiretapped recording, attempted to run for public office in 2007 and some of the generals mentioned in the recording, former military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, were appointed to the Cabinet and other senior positions in the government.

Estrada said he would have wanted to meet Ong during his healthier days but the threat that Ong, who went to hiding after he was charged with rebellion, would be killed or arrested prevented them from doing so.

?He sacrificed his life, his ambition, his career. He is a true public servant,? Estrada said.

Henry said his brother was diagnosed of having lung cancer just after his birthday on Oct. 8 last year.

He said his brother, a chainsmoker, was not surprised by the diagnosis. ?He said, ?I don't blame anyone. I abused myself,?? he said.