Toledo dad’s remains to be returned home

THE remains of Toledo City Councilor Ricardo Rafols, Jr. will be brought to Toledo City tomorrow.

Toledo City Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña said Rafols died due to leukemia at Makati Medical Center.

“There was a sharp drop in his platelets which in effect caused multiple organ failure,” Osmeña said in a phone interview.

The councilor’s remains lie at St. Peter’s Funeral Homes in Quezon City. Rafols, the former vice mayor of Toledo City, is an Osmeña ally.

He was jailed at Muntinlupa after being convicted of malversation of public property in a case filed against him by former Toledo City mayor Aurelio Espinosa.

Rafols was detained at New Bilibid Prison during his campaign on the 2013 elections but was able to garner 16,000 votes and ranked third in the council.

Osmeña said he would still have to discuss the appointment of Rafols’s successor with Vice Mayor Antonio Yapha. He said only three of his councilors were elected.

But the former senator turned mayor said he is hopeful that the remaining councilors would still be supportive in his programs. Correspondent Joy Cherry S. Quito