Ex-poll exec Vicente de Lima; 83

NAGA CITY—Former Election Commissioner Vicente de Lima Sr., father of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, died Monday at home in Sta. Teresita, Iriga City. He was 83.

Caroline de Lima, the third of four children of the late Commission on Elections official, said their father died of colon cancer after undergoing an operation last year and refusing aggressive treatment.

She recalled that their father, who was a Comelec commissioner from 1992 to 1995 during the administration of President Corazon Aquino, had once said that he “belonged to a Comelec that knows how to count.”

Caroline said their father was executive director of the Comelec before being appointed commissioner. Before that, he was a member of the Camarines Sur provincial board and a practicing lawyer.

De Lima is survived by his wife Norma, children Leila, Vicente Jr., Caroline and Vicente II, and grandchildren Israel, Vincent Joshua and Vicente Marcel.

Secretary De Lima arrived in Iriga City at 5 a.m. Tuesday to attend the wake for her father and his funeral. Juan Escandor Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon