Ex-Senate president Angara laid to rest

MANILA, Philippines — Former Senate president Edgardo Angara was laid to rest in his hometown of Baler, Aurora yesterday. 

Angara’s remains were interred in his ancestral compound in Barangay Reserva in honor of his wishes as his family, led by his wife Gloria Manalang Angara and his son Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and relatives, colleagues and friends paid their last respects to the late senator and envoy.

Angara’s former colleagues at the Senate, Pia Cayetano, Franklin Drilon, Joseph Victor Ejercito and Richard Gordon, also attended the burial.

Angara died last May 13 in Tagaytay City at the age of 83. At the time of his death, he was the country’s special envoy to the European Union.

The younger Angara vowed to continue the advocacies of his late father, particularly in the field of education and health, to be able help a wide segment of society needing government support.

“My father was a true champion of the people’s right to education and all his advocacies as a politician and educator are all worth pursuing,” he said.

As a lawmaker, the older Angara pushed for laws that created the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.