Shipping mogul dies of heart attack

CEBU CITY — Shipping mogul William Chiongbian is dead. He was 87.

Chiongbian apparently suffered a heart attack and collapsed the other day while having breakfast in the company of old friends at the Eddie’s Log Cabin restaurant near the waterfront.

Called simply "W" by friends and relatives, Chiongbian was in the company of former Cebu City mayor Eulogio Bor—res, Judge Francisco Militante, University of Cebu owner Au—gusto Liu and former city engineer Juanito Lee.

The restaurant is the group’s favorite hangout on Saturday mornings. But waiters said Chiongbian was a regular at the restaurant even on weekdays and often had breakfast there.

The other day, Chiongbian arrived at the restaurant at about 9:30 a.m. in the company of his private nurse and ordered chicken mami and bottled water.

While drinking water, Militante saw Chiongbian slump on his chair.

Militante said he noticed no shortness of breath prior to that. "I did not hear him complain," he said.

Militante and the private nurse rushed Chiongbian to the Cebu Doctors Hospital but doctors there said he was already dead by the time he arrived.

Chiongbian had a heart bypass operation in the early 1980s and had a pacemaker installed in the mid-1990s. Just last Aug. 14, he underwent a thorough medical checkup and laboratory test with the results reportedly favorable. — Freeman News Service