Pardo barangay captain passes away

Pardo Barangay Captain Litang Abarquez (Contributed Photo)

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Pardo Barangay Captain Manolita ‘Litang’ Abarquez, 63, has passed away on Sunday morning, June 7, multiple sources here confirmed.

Litang, considered a neophyte in Cebu City’s politics, was elected as chairperson of Barangay Pardo during the May 2018 Barangay – Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. She ran under the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) group headed by former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

READ MORE: BOPK gets more barangay chiefs

Circumstances leading to her death, however, remained unclear as of this posting.

In a post on her Facebook account, Apple Abarquez, Litang’s daughter, belied reports that her mother tested positive of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“It is true that my Amam, Kap Litang Abarquez has passed away earlier this morning. But this is not confirmed yet as death because of COVID,” read Apple’s post.

“We both tested negative during the rapid test. We have not been swabbed yet for COVID,” she added.

‘A great human and public servant’

Prior to her career in public service, Litang was also known as the founder and owner of Litang’s Barbecue, a popular barbecue chain in the southern district of the city.

Barangay and public officials in Cebu City, in a series of Facebook posts, said they were saddened by Litang’s passing, and that the city lost ‘a dedicated and selfless public servant’.

For Apple, she said she looked up to her mother as ‘a great human being’.

“My Amam Litang was a great human being, and I am proud to be called her daughter. I cannot begin to describe the pain, but I would like to focus instead on the happy days,” said Apple. /dbs