Amid slight drizzle, former Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon was buried Oct. 4 at a family mausoleum in Sagay City, after being accorded with a 21 salute, in recognition of his services rendered to Negrenses being a public servant for more than 50 years.
The Philippine flag draped to his coffin was turned over to his family by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson during the burial rites.
Marañon, 84, who was governor of Negros Occidental for nine years and a public servant for more than five decades, succumbed to acute respiratory failure secondary to acute pulmonary thromboembolism at the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City on Oct. 1.
A civil engineer by profession, Maranon was also an aquaculturist with a passion for protecting the environment and for organic agriculture.
He was instrumental in the declaration of Sagay marine sanctuary, leading the fight against timber poachers when he became the governor in 2013, and among those who had pushed for the creation of then Negros Island Region.
When he ended his 53 years of public service in Negros Occidental last year, Marañon was recalled as saying there has been a sense of fulfillment in all the post he has held in government because of the opportunity he had to make a difference for Negrenses.
Lacson, whom had served under him as vice-governor of Negros Occidental for six years, described Marañon as among the keenest political minds of the province.
Among the marked accomplishments of Marañon administration are the implementation of the Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Care Program, which benefitted almost one million Negrenses, and the Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center, a technical vocational school that offers competency-based training programs to the out of school youth and adult, as well as the underprivileged Negrenses.
The life he dedicated to public service spans more than five decades which he spent addressing the prevalent problems of his hometown, his district and the province, Lacson said.
The United Negros Alliance (UNegA), of which Marañon used to chair, headed by Vice-Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer and Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante, described him as compassionate, honest, and humble leader
Gov. Marañon has devoted his time and political career in ensuring the continuous progress and development of Negros Occidental., with his heart was with the marginalized and underprivileged.
To us at UNegA, Gov. Marañon was more than a leader, our mentor and our friend who had generously shared his time and wisdom to us and who had inspired us to perform our best, the local party officials and members said in a statement they issued. – BB
