Senior citizens Rep. Datol died of COVID-19, partylist nominee confirms

MANILA, Philippines — Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Francisco Datol died of “acute respiratory distress due to COVID-19.”

This was confirmed Tuesday by Senior Citizens Party-list nominee Rodolfo Ordanes.

“It is with deep sadness that we inform our constituents, the senior citizens and retirees nationwide, that Rep. Francisco G. Datol, Jr has died because of acute respiratory distress due to COVID-19 on August 10, 2020,” Ordanes said in a statement.

Ordanes, who serves as the second nominee and next-in-line to the seat of the Senior Citizen Party-list in Congress, said that he will not let Datol’s death be in vain and that he will continue to fight for the welfare of senior citizens.

“Cong. Datol was tireless in distributing vaccines to seniors in different communities until he succumbed to COVID-19,” Ordanes said.

The party-list nominee said Datol’s office will be in close coordination with the Secretariat of the House of Representatives for the appropriate necrological honors following the lawmaker’s death.

Datol passed away on Monday morning, but the cause of death was not initially disclosed.

The lawmaker first served as Senior Citizen Party-list representative in the 17th Congress, and again in the 18th Congress, clinching the chairmanship of the Special Committee on Senior Citizen Affairs as well as vice-chairmanship of five committees. He was also a member of eight other committees in the House of Representatives.

KGA