Ex-board member of Negros Occidental dies

BACOLOD CITY –– A former board member in Negros Occidental passed away at 10:55 a.m. on Saturday.

Elvira Villena Guanzon, who practiced law for the poor and the marginalized, succumbed to complications from Parkinson’s disease at The Doctors’ Hospital in Bacolod City.

She was 95.

“She was in politics for 32 years until 1988 and practiced law for the poor, women and the marginalized until she was 86 years old. She had to quit going to court when she could no longer remember her exhibits or evidence,” said her daughter, Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon.

“I feel very, very sad that nanay has passed away, but it is all in God’s time. Her life was full of charity and compassion for others, which is why I believe that God gave her many years in this life. We couldn’t ask for more,” she said.

Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante said the Philippine flag would be flown at half-staff this week in honor of Elvira.

Elvira was in politics at a time when there were very few women who ran for public office, her daughter said.

Elvira served as a board member of Negros Occidental from 1963 until 1988. Before that, she was elected councilor and vice mayor of Cadiz City.

In 1986, she led the Corazon Aquino for President Campaign in Cadiz.

Elvira obtained her Associate in Arts degree with high honors in Silliman University in Dumaguete City in 1948 and her law degree from the Manuel L. Quezon University in Quezon City. She passed the Bar Exams in 1952.

The former board member was survived by her husband, retired judge Sixto Guanzon, and their children, Judge Frances Guanzon, Dr. Mateo Guanzon III, Board Member Sixto Guanzon Jr., Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, Dr. Casten Guanzon, Dr. Jeffry Guanzon, Dr. Ma. Luz Vicenta Guanzon and Pengar Louie Guanzon.

Her remains lie at the Acropolis Gardens in Bacolod City. On Thursday, They will be transferred to her residence in Cadiz City.

Interment will be at the Cadiz City Public Cemetery after a 10 a.m. mass at the Sto. Niño Parish Church on Friday.

LZB