Ex-Davao Norte governor succumbs to heart attack

TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte – Gelacio Gementiza, former governor of Davao del Norte, died of a heart attack Monday morning. He was 81.

People close to his family said Gementiza suffered a heart attack at the family residence in Apokon village around 8 a.m.

“Yes, it’s confirmed, just this morning,” Cromwell Bonghanoy, city information officer told the Inquirer by text message when asked to confirm the report of the former governor’s death.

The wife of one of Gementiza’s grandchildren said family members rushed him to a local hospital after he complained of chest pains.

“His birthday celebration last December 23 was attended by relatives who came over from Bohol. Little did we know it was his last,” the woman said.

Yayong, as Gementiza was popularly known, had been a fixture in Davao politics since the late 1960s. A migrant from Bohol, he rose to become vice mayor of Tagum in 1967. He became mayor of Tagum in 2001 and won the gubernatorial seat three years later.

He ran for a second term in 2010 under the ticket of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada but lost to incumbent Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario.

In 2013, Gementiza attempted a political comeback and ran for the congressional seat of Davao del Norte’s 1st district, but was again defeated, by the incumbent Rep. Anthony del Rosario, the governor’s son.

Officials and local folk remember him as a soft-spoken, back-patting politician.

“He was a kind person. We came from the same humble background. Yayong was a friend to everybody,” said 86-year old Cipriano Ramos, a retired government employee. “His death is a big loss to us.”

Vice Gov. Victorio “Baby” Suaybaguio Jr., himself a Bol-anon, said he was saddened by his paisano’s demise.

“May God bless his soul,” Suaybaguio said.

One of the late politician’s sons, Geterito, is the incumbent Tagum City vice mayor.