Bohol acting Gov. Dionisio Victor Balite. (Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas)
TAGBILARAN CITY – Boholanos on Friday, July 26, bid goodbye to Acting Gov. Dionisio Victor Balite.
A funeral Mass officiated by Bishop Crispin Varquez of the Diocese of Borongan in Eastern Samar and co-celebrated by Balite’s son, Rev. Fr. Bernadine Jade Dionne Balite was held at the St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral in Tagbilaran City prior to the burial.
Balite died last July 17 at the age of 52.
READ: President asked to declare Dagohoy Day in Bohol a non-working holiday
“Thank you for your ministry not only to the Boholano people but also to the Church. Your public and church service has benefited many people,” Bishop Varquez said in his message.
In his homily, Fr. Balite described his father as “selfless, humble and a great family man.”
“Despite his busy political career, he didn’t fail to be a good husband and a father to us,” he said.
During the wake, Vice President Sara Duterte and Sen. Francis Tolentino had time to visit his remains and condole with the family.
Tolentino, the current Senate Majority Floor leader, said “Balite was a friend. He was a good man.”
Balite’s father, former Vice Gov. Dionisio “Dioning” Balite, is a founding member of PDP-Laban, the party of Tolentino.
The funeral mass was attended by Representatives Vanessa Aumentado and Alexie Besas-Tutor, some mayors, teachers and staff of BIT-International College and relatives from Camiguin, Cebu and Mindanao. They were mostly clad in white and black.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan, for its part, passed a resolution citing Balite’s invaluable contribution to the province.
The board members, Acting Gov. Tita Baja, and suspended Gov. Aris Aumentado gave a copy of the resolution to the widow, Russell.
The remains of Balite arrived at the Victoria Memorial Park in Barangay Taloto in Tagbilaran City.
Balite, the youngest of five siblings and a father of five, was given full military honors with a 21-gun salute.
A Philippine flag that covered Balite’s casket was also turned over to the Balite family from Col. Lorenzo Batuan, director of Bohol Police Provincial Office and Baja, who was received by Balite’s wife.
Butterflies were set free during the burial.
At 4:40p.m., Balite was laid to rest in a tomb beside his mother, Lilia, who died in 2021.
Balite served as board member from 2016 to 2019 and 2019 to 2022 until he was elected as vice governor in 2022. He became acting governor on May 28, 2024 when Aumentado was preventively suspended by the Ombudsman due to the construction of illegal structures at the foot of the Chocolate Hills.