Malacañang mourned the passing of former Senate President Jovito Salonga on Thursday, saying the “nation lost a pillar of Philippine democracy and advocate of good governance.”
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., in behalf of Malacañang, expressed sympathies to the family of the former senator and pioneer head of the Presidential Commission on Good Government.
“Senator Salonga was known as a staunch nationalist and freedom fighter who fought valiantly against Martial Law and for the restoration of democracy in the country in the aftermath of the 1986 People Power Revolution,” Coloma said in a statement.
Salonga is the only senator to top the senatorial elections thrice. He received the Ramon Magsaysay award for government service in 2007.
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda earlier extolled Salonga as one of the “brave, committed individuals who lit a candle during the deep darkness of the dictatorship; and who contributed to the restoration of our democratic way of life after the triumph of People Power.”
READ: SC: Ex-Senate President Salonga’s death great loss to the country
Besides his achievements in public service, he was also known as a member of the wartime resistance, a bar topnotcher and a survivor of the Plaza Miranda bombing in 1971.
“As an elder statesman he stood squarely on the side of good government, and did his part in Kilosbayan and the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation to ensure that the sins of the past would not be repeated in the future, becoming a Magsaysay laureate in 2007,” Lacierda said. TVJ
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