LAWYER Democrito Mendoza, founder of the country’s largest labor group, passed away in Cebu City at 6:53 p.m. last Tuesday. He was 92 years old.
Mendoza suffered a heart attack secondary to renal failure due to severe systemic infection, said the family’s physician, Dr. Raul Alcarez.
The labor leader had been confined at the intensive care unit of the Chong Hua Hospital since October 16. He was brought to the hospital due to pneumonia last year.
MENDOZA
The founder of the Association of Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) is survived by his wife, former Social Security System (SSS) commissioner Marianita Mendoza, 14 children, several grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Mendoza’s remains lie in state at the JSU-PSU Mariners Court in Pier 1, Cebu City.
He will be buried in his hometown in Liloan, north Cebu. A date of interment still has to be announced.
Son Rep. Raymond Mendoza of the TUCP partylist group said his father wanted a small chapel to be built near his grave.
Mendoza finished his law degree at the University of the Visayas in Cebu City in 1952 and became a lawyer that same year.
Aside from being a lawyer, he was a guerrilla fighter during World War II, soldier and a labor leader.
In 1954, Mendoza and other labor leaders formed ALU with 42 members. It later grew to be the biggest labor group in the country.
In 1975, TUCP was organized as the umbrella group of several labor organizations like ALU.
At the time of his death, Mendoza was chairman of ALU-TUCP and Vimcontu Broadcasting Corp. which owns and operates radio station dyLA.
Two of his 14 children followed his footsteps.
Aside from Raymond, his twin brother, Michael, is national president of ALU-TUCP.
Raymond said their father left a legacy of protecting the rights of workers in the ALU-TUCP.
“That is his biggest legacy. We are acknowledged as the biggest labor union in the country as validated by DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) and the Bureau of Labor Relations,” Raymond said.
Raymond said his father left big shoes to fill but vowed that they would continue the work.
In April 2008, Mendoza launched his book, “Shapes of Memory, Memoir of a Freedom Fighter and Trade Unionist.”
In the foreword, the labor leader wrote: “Positions of power are just passing. That’s why politics does not appeal to me. I’ve never aspired to be a high government official. I’m contented to be in the labor movement. And I want to stay here until I retire or, God forbid, until I die.”