Sanchez Jr. Photo by Ferliza Contratista/CONTRIBUTOR
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. is not just remembered as a politician whose career spanned 15 years. He was also known as the man behind a popular probiotic health drink sold in the Philippines and at least 9 other countries.
Sanchez, a heavy smoker and inventor of LactoPafi, died on April 29, 10 days after his daughters announced that he had Stage 4 lung cancer as diagnosed by physicians from five medical institutions in Manila, Cebu, the United States and Singapore.
His wife Leonardia and two daughters—Grecilda Sanchez-Zaballero and Gerlyda Sanchez-Spiller—were with him when he died at 2:40 a.m. at Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City. He was 68.
On April 19, Grecilda and Gerlyda urged his friends and supporters in a press conference to pray for their father.
‘I shall return’
Sanchez started to lose his voice in January, Grecilda said. But the vice governor remained optimistic and would often say “I shall return” so he could finish his projects, according to his nephew, Eliodoro Sanchez, chair of Barangay Busay in Cebu City.
One of the projects is the Trans-axial Highway, a 300-kilometer road that will connect Santander town in Cebu’s south to Daanbantayan town in the north.
Sanchez had submitted a prefeasibility study to the Provincial Economic and Enterprise Council, but the body shelved it upon learning that it would cost P45 billion. He wanted the national government to fund it, Eliodoro said.
The vice governor’s health deteriorated and he had been unconscious since Holy Week, Eliodoro said.
At 2:40 a.m. on April 29, Sanchez died at the hospital’s intensive care unit. He was buried on May 7 at Mactan Memorial Garden in Lapu-Lapu City.
Life’s irony
Sanchez’s lifestyle was an irony.
He smoked at least two packs of cigarettes every day but played tennis and regularly worked out in his private gym.
He also regularly took LactoPafi, the health drink he himself developed in 2002, which gained nationwide and international success.
“He (regularly) drank it. If he did not, I don’t think he will reach the age of 68 with his heavy smoking,” Grecilda said in an interview on April 20.
A civil engineer by profession, Sanchez used to run a construction firm before he was appointed provincial board member in 1986 during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.
He was elected vice governor in 2004 and was reelected in 2007 and 2010.
Inventing a health drink and food supplement formula in 2002 was not at all planned, Grecilda said.
Helping rural people
She said everything unfolded from her father’s advocacy to help the rural people by improving their means of livelihood under the Pagpalambo Foundation Inc. (Pafi).
“Raising pigs in the backyard was the most successful livelihood program, but the pigs got sick so he had to do something to keep them alive,” she narrated.
Sanchez read about the benefits of Lacto bacillus and worked on developing a food supplement that would ensure a higher survival rate for the livestock.
Grecilda, a chemical engineer, and another friend later helped Sanchez in producing lactopafi probiotic bacteria, which contains beneficial bacteria and is said to help build body resistance to diseases.
Gerlyda said her father was a hardworking man “who loves the poor.”
Sanchez established Lacto Bacillus Pafi Techno Resources Corp. or LactoPafi in February 2002. Its products are currently being marketed with the brand names LactoPafi and Lactovitale.
Foreign market
According to its website, the company has expanded to Norway, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and the United States.
From health drinks, it has also manufactured soap, shampoo, toothpaste and other personal care products.
Sanchez was awarded by Ernst and Young as Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005 for his LactoPafi innovation.
Edna, his older sister, said they grew up in the quiet town of Tuburan in northern Cebu with business-minded parents.
Grecilda cited her father’s condition as an example that even the inventor of a health drink was not exempted from acquiring a disease.
“We are not playing God here. People who have invented and contributed so much to human race are not exempted from getting sick,” she said.