Benigno “Boy” Gequillana, the former mayor of Ilog town in Negros Occidental, passed away after a six-year battle with cancer at the Adventist Medical Center- Bacolod on Sunday, January 1.
The 72-year-old former mayor had Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which attacks the body’s germ-fighting immune system, his son Ilog Councilor Benigno “BG” Gequillana Jr. said.
He was brought to the hospital on December 31 after he was hit with pneumonia, his son said.
Gequillana was mayor of Ilog from 1988 to 1998.
The mayor was a pioneer of the football community of Ilog, a former director of the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative and an assistant treasurer of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines-Negros Occidental Council.
His wake will be at the Acropolis Gardens in Bacolod City until January 8 when his remains will be cremated, his son said.
The urn containing his ashes will then be brought to Dancalan, Ilog, for a memorial service and will remain there for about three to four nights, after which it will be brought back to the Acropolis Gardens, the councilor added.*