Former Negros Occidental Gov. Daniel “Bitay” Lacson may no longer be physically present but his mission on Earth lives on by his inspiring and showing the way for others, Fr. Mao Buenafe said at his funeral mass.
The urn containing the cremated remains of Lacson, 77, who passed away on Sept. 6, was buried at the family mausoleum at the Bacolod Memorial Park on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 15.
“Bitay’s mission here on Earth, is a work of progress,” Buenafe said.
“He was a man who never ceased to work for other people. Who never ran out of ideas on how to help, on how to facilitate dialogs to make things better,” Buenafe said.
“Bitay’s motto was ‘My Life is My Prayer’. My appreciation of this is that he was very consistent with how he lived his temporal life, which is aligned with his spiritual life,” Buenafe said.
Lacson’s advocacy for peace, justice and reconciliation won the hearts of both the rebels and people in government, Buenafe said.
He was a good listener and a consensus builder, the priest added.
“Bitay had a deep respect and belief in the Church as an institution that has a deep concern for the people,” Buenafe said.
“Bitay’s death is an opportunity for the governance of peace to continue”, Buenafe said.
Lacson was governor of Negros Occidental from 1986 to 1992, and also served as chairman of the Presidential Council for Countryside Development, Philippine National Bank and the Government Service Insurance System.
He is survived by his wife, Tima Sarabia Lacson, and their children – RJ, Patrick, Carla, Teepee and Ria.*