FORMER senator Ernesto Herrera died after a heart attack at 2 p.m. on Thursday at the Manila Doctors Hospital in UN Avenue, Manila. He was 73.
He was secretary general of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) based in Cebu and the general secretary of the Asian Trade Union.
His son, former Calape municipal mayor Ernest Herrera of Bohol, said the former senator was brought to the hospital almost a week ago for a checkup only to suffer a mild stroke.
He was placed in the Intensive Care Unit for closer monitoring when he suffered cardiac arrest.
HERERA
“He was okay until this morning. He talked, he was conscious, his vitals signs were okay. Then just this morning mikalit lang (he passed away),” Ernest said last night.
A vigil wake will be initially held in Manila at the Heritage Parks to allow people in the Senate and in House of Representatives to pay their last respects.
But Ernest said the remains will be brought to Cebu City where the family resides.
The former senator was born on Sept. 11, 1942 in Samboan town, south Cebu but also has roots in Bohol.
He was a congressman in the first district of Bohol. His son Ernest served as mayor of Calape town.
A brother, Julius Caesar Herrera, also served as vice governor of Bohol in 2001.
He was survived by his wife Lourdes and four children. Lourdes is in Cebu City.
A member of the Agrava Fact-finding Board, Herrera was elected senator from 1987 to 1998.
He then became congressman for one term in the first district of Bohol from 1998 to 2001.
He was the Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP). Herrera also became the General Secretary of Asian Trade Union, Ernest said.