MANILA, Philippines -- ?I?m ready to go home.?

Election Commissioner Romeo Brawner excitedly uttered the words to his wife Leonora Fe from his bed at St. Luke?s Medical Center in Quezon City Thursday morning merely hours before he expired from a heart attack. He was 72.

Brawner had been at St. Luke?s since Monday. He had complained of chest pains on returning from an overseas trip last week and had himself confined for an executive checkup. At around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, doctors pronounced him dead from massive coronary failure.

His son, Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., told the Philippine Daily Inquirer his father did not have heart problems but had lately experienced chest pains that he ignored.

?He was in Sri Lanka for 10 days to observe the elections there. When he returned, he said he felt pain in his chest. But he had a high tolerance for pain so he did not mind what he was feeling,? the younger Brawner said.

He said that upon arriving from Sri Lanka, his father went home to Baguio City over the weekend, something he did on a weekly basis.

He said it was his mother who insisted his father go to St. Luke?s, which he did on Monday.

?Not too good..?

When the test results came back, ?they were not too good?,? the younger Brawner said. ?It was alarming and the doctors said it was already out of the ordinary.?

He said the doctors advised his father to remain in the hospital. On Tuesday and Wednesday, however, the family noted an improvement in his father?s appearance, the son said.

On Thursday, between 5 and 5:30 a.m., Brawner woke up, turned to his wife and said enthusiastically: ?I?m ready to go home,? the son said.

Brawner then rose from his hospital bed to go to the bathroom but collapsed. He was brought to the intensive coronary care unit where doctors tried to revive him. He was resuscitated for a short time but succumbed to coronary failure.

Brawner?s remains were taken to the Commission on Elections office in Intramuros, Manila, Thursday night where a necrological service was to be held. They will then be brought to the Court of Appeals on Padre Faura Street before being airlifted to Baguio City on Saturday. Interment has been set for Tuesday.

Before he was appointed to the Comelec, Brawner was Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals. He was born in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, on Sept. 17, 1935. He had five children.

Brawner was named to the Comelec seat vacated by Virgilio Garcillano, the commissioner who became embroiled in the infamous ?Hello Garci? scandal that dragged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and several military generals in an election fraud controversy.

He served as Comelec chair in acting capacity from February to March 2008 until retired Justice Jose Melo assumed office in March.

Brawner?s death brings to three the number of vacancies in the Comelec.

Over 40 years in gov?t

Brawner?s government career spanned more than four decades, 30 years of them in the judiciary.

A graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law, he became a Regional Trial Court judge in Baguio City in 1975, and later in La Trinidad, Benguet, and Pangasinan.

He was appointed Court of Appeals Associate Justice in 1995 and Presiding Justice in January 2005.

On July 6, 2005, the President appointed him to a seven-year term in the Comelec that was to end on Feb. 2, 2011.

Melo Thursday expressed the Comelec?s grief over Brawner?s death, saying the electoral body would carry on as best it could without him.

?While we in Comelec mourn the commissioner?s untimely demise, we believe the most fitting tribute we could give him is to ensure the coming ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) elections will be peaceful and credible,? he said.

Arroyo condoles

President Arroyo also extended her sympathies to Brawner?s family.

?The President said Commissioner Brawner is a great loss to our electoral system,? said Press Secretary and presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye.

With the ARMM elections not too far away, Bunye said he was sure Brawner?s replacement would be named soon.

?This will be announced once the President has made a decision,? he told reporters.

Election lawyers Leila de Lima and George Garcia agreed that Brawner?s demise was a ?big loss to the Comelec.?

?He was actually the most assertive and insightful among the current members,? said De Lima, recently appointed Commission on Human Rights chair, in a text message.

Garcia said Brawner brought ?integrity and honesty? to public service.

Argued with Abalos

Election lawyer Sixto Brillantes said Brawner was one of the commissioners who earned his respect.

Sources told the Inquirer Brawner and former Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos often argued behind closed doors, especially during last year?s senatorial elections.

Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting national chair Henrietta de Villa said, ?The loss of Commissioner Brawner weighs heavily on election stakeholders and the nation,? at a time the Comelec ?is moving with determination to automate the elections.?

Model judge

In La Trinidad, court employees remembered Brawner as a model judge who knew how to manage his sala well.

Lawyer Norma Lucero-Carranza, RTC clerk of court, said Brawner inspired government employees to live their roles as public servants.

?At first, we did not believe the news [of his death] since he looked healthy the last time he visited us,? Carranza said.

In Baguio, officials have started planning the memorial rites for Brawner. Brawner?s family was from Kiangan, Ifugao, but he maintained a home in Baguio from the time he studied there.

Brawner?s wife, Leonora, is a retired UP Baguio physical education professor. With reports from Christine O. Avendaño and Beverly T. Natividad, Manila, and Delmar Cariño and Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon