Malacañang mourns death of PACC chairman Dante Jimenez

PACC chair and ICAD co-chair Dante Jimenez. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Saturday mourned the death of Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) chairman Dante Jimenez, who died Friday night at 68 due to aortic aneurysm.

 In a statement, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that Malacañang expressed its condolences to Jimenez’s bereaved family. 

 “PACC Chair Jimenez spent most of his productive life advocating a just and peaceful society for Filipinos by fighting criminality and corruption,” Roque said of the PACC chair, who was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte in January 2018. 

 Jimenez also served as the co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD). 

 Before his appointment as PACC chairman and ICAD co-chairman, Jimenez served as the founding chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC). 

 Roque said that Jimenez “believed and shared President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s centerpiece program, which is, the campaign against illegal drugs, crime and corruption.” 

 In a separate statement, chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said that he was “startled and saddened” by Jimenez’s death. 

 “Chairman Jimenez’s drive against graft and corruption started even before he was appointed to the PACC,” Panelo said.

“He was crusader against criminality and corruption of our country, having served as the founding chairman of the advocacy group, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.” 

 “Trusting his competence and passion for public service and genuine social change, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte appointed him to lead the fight against graft and corruption,” Panelo added. 

 “His strength and zeal will be missed as we continue our campaign against criminality and corruption, among others.” 

 gsg