Former governor loses fight with lung disease

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

Dy, 60, had been suffering from emphysema for years and died in 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 Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City before Dy’s remains will be taken here.

A wake will be held at the Isabela provincial capitol on the night of Feb. 19 and at Cauayan City Hall.

Dy is survived by wife Cecilia and 16 children.

De Villa said Dy would have run unopposed for his 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 have held various elective posts in the province since the 1960s.

The eldest among the children of the late political patriarch Faustino Dy Sr. and Natividad Guzman-Dy, the mayor was known to be the most low-profile among the Dy siblings. Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon