At 95, former Senate President Jovito R. Salonga, passes away

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Former Senate President Jovito Salonga passed away on Thursday. He was 95. According to the reports, Salonga died at 3 p.m. after three years of battling Alzheimer’s disease.

He was elected to the Senate three times, topping the race in 1965, 1971, and 1987. He served as Senate President from 1987 to 1992.

In 1992, he ran but lost in the presidential race won by former President Fidel V. Ramos.

In his Twitter account, Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te described Salonga as “the best president we never got.”

Salonga, a staunch opposition during the regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos, was among the victims of the Plaza Miranda bombings in 1971.

Nine people were killed when two hand grenades were thrown on stage during an opposition party rally and Salonga was rendered blind in one eye and deaf in one ear.

Salonga defended political prisoners detained without charges after Martial Law was declared in 1972.

Considered as champion of democracy, Salonga entered politics when he first served as representative of Rizal province.

He was the first chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) which was created to recover the ill-gotten wealth of Marcos and his cronies.

Salonga was also part of the “Magnificent 12” senators who voted to reject the Philippines’ military bases treaty with the United States in 1991.

In 2007, Salonga was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service for his exemplary integrity and substance of his long public career in service to democracy and good government in the Philippines. (PNA / Jelly F. Musico)

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