Senate to hold necrological services for Maceda

A visitor looks at the body of the late Senator Ernesto Maceda during its wake at Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City on Tuesday, June 21, 2016. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The Senate will hold necrological services for former Senate President Ernesto Maceda  on Thursday, June 23, an official of the chamber said on Tuesday.

Senate Secretary Oscar Yabes said Senate President Franklin Drilon, along with other senators, Senate officials and protocol officers, will await the arrival of Maceda’s family and the casket bearing his remains at the entrance to the Senate building in Pasay City at 4 p.m.

Yabes said Drilon and the other senators will escort Maceda’s remains and his family to the session hall.  He said Drilon will also  deliver a eulogy, along with Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Gregorio Honasan II.

Also expected to attend the necro, he said,  are former Senators Rene Saguisag, Heherson Alvarez, Nikki Coseteng, Orlando Mercado, Joey Lina and Francisco Tatad.

The Senate has been flying its flag at half-mast  as a symbol of mourning since Maceda, 81, passed away  Monday night due to multiple organ failure.

Maceda served as Senate President from 1996  to 1998.

A graduate of Ateneo de Manila University and Harvard University, Maceda began his career in politics as a city councilor of Manila in 1959.  At 29 years old, he was appointed by then President Ferdinand Marcos as the Secretary of Community Development and later in 1969 as Executive Secretary in a concurrent capacity as Chairman of the Commission on Reorganization.

In 1970, the Commerce and Industry portfolio was given to Maceda where he launched consumer protection programs and established trade relations with Eastern European socialist countries.

He first entered the Senate in 1971 but his term was cut short when martial law was declared in 1972.   He was again elected senator  for two consecutive  terms — from 1987 to 1992 and from 1992 to 1998.

During the Corazon Aquino administration, Maceda served as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He was later appointed ambassador to the United States from 1999 to 2001 by  then President Joseph Estrada./rga