Former Senate President Angara passes away at 83
Former Senate President Edgardo Angara, a special presidential envoy to the European Union, passed away at the age of 83 Sunday morning from "an apparent heart attack", his son Senator Sonny Angara said in his Twitter account.
"We ask for prayers for the repose of his soul," said Angara. He added later in the day that his father's remains will be at Heritage Park in Taguig beginning at 2 pm Monday.
Angara is one of three Filipinos who have been decorated by the Japanese government with the Order of the Rising Sun. He got his award in 2013.
He was a frequent visitor to Japan starting in the 1960s and was impressed the country's swift recovery from World War II.
Angara, born in Baler, Quezon, was a president of the University of the Philippines from 1981 to 1987. He also helped form one of the country's biggest law firms: ACCRA, which stands for Angara, Abello, Concepcion, Regala and Cruz Law Offices in 1972.
He was elected as senator in 1987 and became senate president in 1993 to 1995. After failing to be elected as vice president in 1998, Angara was appointed by President Joseph Estrada as agriculture secretary and executive secretary.
After Estrada was ousted from his post, Angara successfully ran for the Senate where he remained from 2001 to 2013, which made one of the longest serving senators.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said in a statement: " I join my colleagues and the whole nation in mourning the passing of former Senate President Edgardo J.. Angara, a true public servant and a pillar of the Senate.
"Our institutions are the product of the hard work and brilliance of Senator Angara and the leaders of his generation, and millions of our countrymen are beneficiaries of his belief in the power of education to improve lives and drive national development," said Pimentel.
"We mourn the loss of an excellent lawyer, dedicated educator, esteemed former colleague in the Senate and patriot," said Senator Francis Escudero.
Senator Loren Legarda said with Angara's death "we have lost a great man, a visionary, an indefatigable worker, esteemed public servant, deep thinker and one of the Philippines' most brilliant minds."
"(He was) possibly one of the best presidents we could ever had," said Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said Angara " showed us that hard work pays off even if it's done away from the spotlight. This, to me, is the epitome of his leadership that should emulated by allt hose who want to serve the public."
Among the many laws that Angara authored were the National High School Act and the Senior Citizens Act. DMS
