P-Noy atttends Osmeña matriarch’s wake

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III yesterday paid his last respects to the matriarch of the Osmeña family yesteday during a short visit in Bacolod City.

Aquino stayed for almost an hour with Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Secretary Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas III and Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras at the Redemptorist Church where the remains of Lourdes dela Rama-Osmeña lie in state.

Her remains are expected to arrive in Cebu at 4 p.m. today for an overnight vigil at the chapel of Sacred Heart Parish Church at D. Jakosalem Street where a Mass will be held at 7 p.m.

She will be laid to rest at the Osmeña Mausoleum in barangay Carreta tomorrow after a 10 a.m. requiem Mass at the Sacred Heart Parish church.

The remains of the late widow of Sen. Sergio Osmeña Jr. Lourdes will be transported by ferry to Cebu via San Carlos City and are expected to arrive at the Toledo City port at 3 p.m.

Her youngest child Georgia and former senator John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña are accompanying the 98-year-old matriarch.

Speed cops of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management will meet them at the port and escort them to Cebu City.

A life-size painting of Lourdes by national artist Fernando Amorsolo will be brought to Cebu and will be displayed during the wake.

Georgia said they have not prepared a program or eulogies and that plans may change as events unfold today.

Lourdes passed away last Sunday in a hospital in Bacolod City, where she had been confined for the past four years after suffering a serious bout of pneumonia.

She stayed in Bacolod City in her twilight years, managing the family’s farms and other land holdings until her death.

Her children, Sen. Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III, Rep. Tomas Osmeña, eldest sister Minnie Osmeña-Stuart, and Georgia welcomed the president yesterday.

Preseident Aquino could not attend the funeral in Cebu City tomorrow because of his official trip to Hawaii. Reporter Marian Z. Codilla