Thousands attend Codilla funeral

ORMOC CITY, Philippines —At least ten thousand people showed their condolences during last Sunday’s funeral of the late Eufrocino “Noy Dodong” Codilla Sr., a former congressman of the 4th district of Leyte.

People from all walks of life literally stood side by side in every available space inside the Saints Peter and Paul Parish church in Ormoc City—with a seating capacity of 8,800—which was filled hours even before the casket bearing Noy Dodong arrived for the requiem Mass.

Those who escorted the hearse from the Codilla residence had to settle in the church yard, the park and a school walkway and a supermarket nearby. Others who traveled to the city from as far as Palompon town in Leyte had to contend in either staying in their vehicles or wait in the cemetery.

By 2: 45 p.m., Ormoc City stood still because the convoy of cars of sympathizers, stretched far and wide over a radius of four blocks, almost covering the full lane of the roads and curbsides.

Former city mayor Eric “Biboy” Codilla, son of Noy Dodong, reminisced the two big frustrations of his father: Failure to compete in the national cycling competition despite his being the champion in the Leyte leg; and when he only attended one semester in college because his father, a carpenter, could no longer afford the cost at all.

“Truly God has different plans,” Biboy said, as he treaded the narrative of Noy Dodong’s journey in life and legacy. “Had he became champion (in cycling) or graduated (in college), he could be working or staying in a place outside Ormoc and it will be another story.”

Noy Dodong, who later became a successful businessman and later a political giant and government servant to the people in this western part of Leyte, figured prominently in service during the Ormoc flashflood disaster in 1991 and was eventually instrumental to the establishment of the world-class flood mitigation project in Ormoc. (FREEMAN)