Ex-Isabela mayor Dy, 60

CAUAYAN CITY, Philippines—Mayor Benjamin Dy, who served as Isabela governor from 1992 to 2001, died of complications from emphysema at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Metro Manila early Saturday, a close aide said.

Dy, 60, had been suffering from emphysema for years and died at the hospital at 2:45 a.m.  Saturday, said Nestor de Villa, general services officer of Cauayan City.

Relatives said a wake has been set for three nights at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City before Dy’s remains are taken to Cauayan City. Dy is survived by wife, Cecilia, and 16 children.

De Villa said Dy would have run unopposed for a second term as Cauayan mayor but his son, Bernard, a businessman and civic leader, replaced him on Dec. 21 last year due to the mayor’s failing health.

Dy was a member of the Dy political clan, whose members held various elective posts in the province since the 1960s. His brothers are incumbent Gov. Faustino Dy III; former Gov. Faustino Dy Jr., who served from 2001 to 2004, and a former Isabela representative; incumbent Isabela Rep. Napoleon Dy; former Cauayan City Mayor Caesar Dy; and Cauayan Councilor Victor Dy, the city’s barangay league federation president.

The late mayor’s sisters, Arlene Dy-Maranan and Eloisa Dy-Valle, did not enter public service.