Cebu City mourns of Mayor’s death

Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella. FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY — Cebuanos mourned the death of Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella who passed away in a private hospital here around 4 a.m. on Friday. He was 70.The mayor died at the Perpetual Succor Hospital here of septic shock secondary to pneumonia, his son Edgardo Labella Jr. said.

Edgardo Jr., more known here as Jaypee, said his father “served the city untiringly at the height of the (COVID-19) pandemic until conditions improved” but “lost the battle he waged” on his his health that he had managed well until the “lockdowns compromised his situation. “

Labella’s wake will be held at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City, before he will be buried at Golden Haven Memorial Park at a still-to-be-finalized date.

Jaypee said other details of the funeral, including holding a public viewing at City Hall, will be announced in the coming days.

Philippine flags at government offices in Cebu City were flown at half-staff as a tribute to Labella, on the order of Acting Mayor Michael Rama.

‘Great years together’

Rama, who was expected to formally assume as mayor anytime now, hailed his political “partner” and “dear friend” since the 1990s. Labella used to be the vice mayor of then Mayor Rama until they switched positions in 2019 and won.

“We have had many great years together in public service. I could not have asked for a better partner,” Rama said, adding that even if they went through “political and personal adversity in life, Edgar was always there to console and support myself and my family during those days when we felt that true friends were few and fair-weathered.”

He added: “He never failed to make light moments despite the hard times, by cracking a joke or sharing an anecdote with us. As friends go, Edgar was, a true one. He was like family.” Labella has been battling different kinds of ailments since January 2021 and had gone on repeated medical leaves until his demise.

Prior to joining the city’s politics as a councilor in 1998, Labella served as director of the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas from 1994 to 1998.

He is survived by his wife, Joycelyn, and sons Jaypee and Eugene Philippe.

Labella was one of the survivors of the 1998 sinking of the passenger ferry MV Princess of the Orient that sailed from Manila to Cebu during Typhoon “Vicki” where 150 of the 388 passengers died. He stayed afloat for 36 hours clad in a life vest until he was rescued.

Labella was also a regular runner at the Cebu City Sports Center as a member of the Walk and Talk Club.