Rolando “Nonoy” Andaya Jr.
NAGA CITY—Former Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando “Nonoy” Andaya Jr. was found dead inside his house in this city with a bullet wound to his head on Thursday morning, police reports said. He was 53.
The Bicol Regional Police Office reported that his personal assistant rushed to his room after hearing a gunshot and saw him lifeless.
“As of the moment police authorities is closely coordinating with the family for the investigation being conducted,” the police said in a statement.
His death was confirmed by his children Ranton and Katrina.
“With deep grief and sadness, we announce the untimely death of our father, former member of the House of Representatives, Rolando “Nonoy” G. Andaya, Jr., this morning, June 30, 2022,” they said in a post on their father’s official Facebook page.
“We request for your fervent prayers for his eternal repose, and to allow us, his family, to grieve privately our loss.”
The regional police report did not call it a suicide case, but the Naga City police said it was an alleged “suicide incident.”
Andaya lost his wife, former Rep. Marissa Andaya, to cancer in 2020.
“The love of my life has passed on to eternal life. Her people lost their leader, our children their caring mother, and I, my best friend,” Andaya had written on his Facebook page, announcing her death.
Before the 2022 elections, he initially announced his intention to run for Camarines Sur’s first district congressional seat, but later filed his candidacy for governor in November 2021.
Leni supporter
The Nationalist People’s Coalition candidate lost to Vincenzo Luigi Villafuerte, the younger brother of three-term governor Miguel Luis “Migz” Villafuerte. The Villafuertes have been holding the gubernatorial post of Camarines Sur province since 1995.
Andaya backed the presidential run of former Vice President Leni Robredo, who lost to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Marcos was inaugurated as the country’s 17th President on the same day Andaya died.
Before supporting Robredo, Andaya backed Sara Duterte for president and even arranged meetings with her to team up with former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.
Duterte ended up as Marcos’ running mate and won as Vice President.
House, DBM stints
Andaya was elected representative of the first district of Camarines Sur from 1998 to 2006, and from 2010 to 2019. He also served as Majority Floor Leader of the House of Representatives.
In 2006, he served as secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) under then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Andaya also lost the gubernatorial race in 2019 to Migz Villafuerte.
He was the son of former congressman Rolando Andaya Sr. and Rita Gutierrez. His grandfather, Tomas Andaya, was mayor of Ragay, Camarines Sur, in the 1960s.
He is the older brother of Maribel Andaya-Eusebio, mayor of Pasig from 2013 to 2016.
Andaya was outspoken and never far from controversies, and locked horns with some of the most prominent political clans in Camarines Sur on several occasions.
In May 2014, Andaya, among other officials of the Arroyo administration, was implicated in the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.
He denied any involvement saying he had “not received any amount, whether in cash or in check, as commission from [Janet Lim] Napoles, or from any of her staff or agents.”
In October 2013, plunder charges were filed at the Ombudsman by the National Bureau of Investigation against Arroyo and other officials of her administration, including Andaya, in connection with the alleged misuse of the Malampaya gas fund.
In December 2017, the Ombudsman charged Andaya, along with Napoles and former Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, with 97 counts of graft and malversation before the Sandiganbayan for their alleged involvement in the Malampaya Fund scam.
Andaya’s alleged role in the scam was his signing of the special allotment release order (Saro) which was “fraught with irregularities constituting badges of fraud.”
In October 2018, he escaped an assassination attempt just after he filed his certificate of candidacy for the 2019 polls.
He survived a second assassination attempt on June 1, 2021, after two motorcycle-riding assailants rained bullets on his vehicle at Barangay Palestina, in Pili, Camarines Sur. —WITH A REPORT FROM DEXTER CABALZA
RELATED STORY:
Ex-Camarines Sur Rep. Nonoy Andaya found dead inside residence