BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—The former chairman of the Commission on Higher Education died on Wednesday after battling colon cancer for almost a decade, his brother-in-law announced here Thursday.
Brother Rolando Ramos Dizon, 64, a De La Salle brother, was with his family and friends when he passed on at 7:09 p.m. inside his room at the De La Salle Health Sciences Institute in Dasmariñas, Cavite, said former Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella.
“We thank everybody who has been praying with us for Brother Rolly,” Puentevella added.
Dizon, who was CHED chairman from 2003 to 2004, was first diagnosed with colon cancer in 2003 and underwent surgery in Houston Texas, said Puentevella.
Last month, he added, his brother-in-law underwent further surgery to arrest the cancer.
He said that Dizon had been declared brain dead since Tuesday night. His family and friends were with him when he died, Puentevella said.
Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra expressed his condolences to the family of Dizon who, he said, “died as a good and faithful Christian Brother, true to his sacred vows and commitments in life.”
“May he now intercede for us before the throne of our Heavenly Father. As I offer Mass for his blessed soul, I also pray for his bereaved family that the Good Lord will console them in their hour of bereavement. May his soul rest in peace,” the bishop said.
Dizon, a native of Bacolod City, was a member of the Consultative Commission on Charter Change in 2005 and the president of De La Salle University-Manila and the De La Salle University System (1998–2003).
He was a co-founder of the National Movement for Free Elections. He also served as president of the University of St. La Salle, Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports, Cultural and Educational Association in Bacolod and the De La Salle Health Sciences Institute, Puentevella said.