ORMOC CITY—The patriarch of a political clan in Ormoc City, Leyte passed away at a private hospital in Cebu City on Tuesday morning.
Former Rep. Eufrocino Mejares Codilla Sr. was surrounded by his family when he died at 10:48 a.m. He was 83.
Codilla is survived by his wife Maria, children Eufrocino Jr., Edward, Eddie, Elizabeth, Eric, Maria Isabel, Elmer, Edwin and Evelyn.
Three of his children also served as mayor of Ormoc, like their father.
Eric was three-term mayor of Ormoc –from 2004 to 2013 while Edward served as mayor for one term. Elmer was elected mayor of Kananga town, Leyte from 2007 to 2016.
Elmer, now vice mayor of Kananga, said his father died of natural causes brought on by old age.
The elder Codilla was expected to be brought back to Ormoc City on Wednesday.
Codilla, or Dodong to his friends and supporters, was known as “Man of the Masses” here due to closeness and charisma to the common folk.
People in far-flung villages would mob him whenever he paid them a visit and would even drink tuba (coconut wine) with him.
Codilla came from humble beginnings. His father, Vicente, was a carpenter while his mother, Agapita, was a homemaker.
He was pushed to run for mayor in 1992 by Ormocanons who were dismayed by the snail-paced response of the city government in providing help to the thousands of people affected by the deadly flash flood that killed more than 7,000 people here.
Codilla won by a landslide and went on to serve two more terms as mayor. In 2001, he was elected congressman in a bitter contest with then reelectionist Rep. Ma. Victoria Larrazabal-Locsin.
The Commission on Elections disqualified Codilla on charges of electioneering and proclaimed Locsin, which triggered a legal battle.
The Comelec later ruled in favor of Codilla and proclaimed him congressman.