Marcos housing official dies

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines—A former deputy minister during the Marcos administration passed away at the Makati Medical Center on Sunday.

The remains of Jose Conrado “Jolly” Benitez, 71, was cremated in the afternoon, about 10 hours after he died at 5:05 a.m.

The cremated remains would be brought to the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park in Makati City, said Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez of Negros Occidental’s 3rd district.

He said it was his father’s wish to be cremated immediately but the date of the funeral had not been set.

Alfredo said his father succumbed to complications arising from illnesses.

He had a kidney transplant a couple of years ago, and had lung complications that led to a seizure on Friday, he said.  Jose got better on Saturday but later got worse, he added.

Jose was the deputy minister of human settlements during the Marcos administration.

Alfredo said his father was also an assemblyman and president of the Philippine Women’s University.

The former assemblyman is survived by his four children and his wife Joanne de Asis.

Jose has two children from his first wife, the late Betty Bantug Benitez. They were Alfredo and  Francisco, current president of PWU.

He has two children with his second wife, Joanne de Assis. They are Gaia, an investment banker, and Jana, an artist.

According to Alfredo, his father was not a disciplinarian but a kind of parent who guided his children to accomplish what they wanted.

He said his father was also an artist who sometimes exhibited his works with his daughter Jana in New York and in Manila.