Cebu govt. and business leaders remember Aboitiz’s legacy

DAVIDE

Roberto Eduardo “Bobby” Aboitiz may have passed on, but for government executives and local business leaders whom he has worked with, his legacy will forever be remembered.

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III, who paid his respects to the bereaved family on Monday, said the late business leader was someone everyone should look up to.

“He was a Cebuano at heart. Those who have less in life, he reached to and helped,” Davide told Cebu Daily News at the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Cebu City, where Aboitiz’s ashes were displayed for viewing in the morning.

Aboitiz was the president of the family-led Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) since 1986. He passed away in Manila last Thursday at 67 years old.

He was also chairman of the listed company Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) from 2005 to 2008. The late business leader was also a director at AEV and Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Cebu Incorporated.

On Monday, local business leaders, government officials, relatives, and friends came to view Aboitiz’s remains as well as to offer condolences to the immediate family.

Present in the morning were Aboitiz’s wife, Maria Christina, and two of four children, Anna and Tristan.

RAFI employees were also present.

Davide, who worked with Aboitiz in the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB) where they sat as chairman and co-chairman, respectively, said the Mega Cebu vision would not have been established without the latter.

Mega Cebu, a consortium of 13 Cebu cities and municipalities, regional line agencies, as well as private and civil society organizations, envisions sustained urban growth in Metro Cebu up to 2050.

Lawyer Augusto Go, University of Cebu president, said he fondly remembers “Bobby” back when they asked him to be a member of the Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu Board of Trustees.

“He willingly accepted our offer and later on became the chairman of the school,” Go recounted.

Go said Sacred Heart is now what it is today, with the new campus, buildings, and high quality of education, because of Aboitiz’s expertise and brilliance.