South Cotabato board member dies of COVID-19

South Cotabato Provincial Board Member Wilson Paclibar. PHOTO FROM THE SOUTH COTABATO WEBSITE

KORONADAL CITY — The Philippine flag has been flown at half-mast at the South Cotabato Provincial Capitol grounds here after a member of Sangguniang Panlalawigan succumbed to COVID-19 on Sunday.

South Cotabato Vice Governor Vicente de Jesus said ex-officio Board Member Wilson Paclibar expired at 8:46 p.m. on May 23 at a hospital here due to COVID-19 complications.

An elected councilor of Tantangan town, South Cotabato, Paclibar, 47, first started his career in public service as the president of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Provincial Federation in 1992.

In May 2019, he was elected councilor of Tantangan town and later served as the president of the Philippine Councilors League (PCL) in its South Cotabato chapter, a post that earned him a slot in the Provincial Board.

De Jesus described Paclibar as a very idealistic, vibrant, honest, and dynamic public servant.

“The last time I saw him was on May 10 via zoom, when he asked to be excused from the session due to possible COVID-19 infection,” the vice governor said.

The following day, May 11, Paclibar’s test results confirmed him to be positive for SARS-CoV-2, which causes severe respiratory illness COVID-19.

Paclibar was the highest provincial official to have died due to COVID-19 complications in Region 12. Earlier, South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo, Koronadal City Mayor Eliordo Ogena, and Koroandal City Vice Mayor Peter Miguel also tested positive for the new coronavirus but after weeks of quarantine, they recovered from the disease.

Alamada town Mayor Jesus Sacdalan and Makilala town Mayor Armando Quibod also spent life in quarantine after contracting the virus but eventually recovered.

“The province and its officials mourn for the passing of PCL President for the South Cotabato Chapter, Board Member Wilson Paclibar,” the provincial government said in a statement. Paclibar’s body was cremated Sunday night, his ashes now lay in repose at his house in Poblacion, Tantangan town. His family are still on quarantine after having had close contact with the board member.

As of 6 p.m. on May 23, Sunday, the Soccsksargen region posted a total of 10,222 COVID-19 cases, of which 1,852 were active ones, according to the COVID-19 bulletin from the Department of Health (DOH).

DOH reported that 78 percent of the total number of cases had already recovered but 323 or 3.16 percent died.

The highest single-day tally of cases reported in the region was recorded last May 17, when the region posted 217 new confirmed cases, DOH data showed.