The visionary former governor of Negros Occidental Daniel “Bitay” Lacson Jr. peacefully passed away surrounded by family at his home in Bacolod City at 9:05 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6
Lacson, 77, succumbed to a brain tumor.
He was governor of Negros Occidental from 1986 to 1992, and also served as chairman of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
“We just lost a true public servant of Negros. His life is worth emulating by younger generations,” Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said.
“It’s a sad day for Negros Occidental,“ former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela, who served as Lacson’s vice governor, said.
He said Lacson “served his province and country with passion, always concerned about what could be done to make things better… He will always be remembered and honored for the service he gave so selflessly and passionately”.
Lacson was a businessman and civic leader when he assumed the governorship of Negros Occidental right after the EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. from power.
Then President Corazon Aquino appointed a reluctant Lacson governor of Negros Occidental and he assumed the post on April 5, 1986.
When his first term ended on Dec. 4, 1987 he ran for a second term that ended on June 25, 1992.
He did not seek a third term as governor opting to return to the private sector as president of Negros Navigation Co.
However, staying away from government service was short lived.
President Fidel Ramos appointed him chairman of the Presidential Council for Countryside Development and the PNB, and President Benigno Aquino III named him chairman of the GSIS.
Corazon Aquino said what she and Lacson had in common was “When the situation all over the country, just as the conditions in Negros, were reaching crisis proportions, we were both called upon to lead. And we both did not want the job.”
In 1988 then President Corazon Aquino urged the public to vote for Lacson for a second term.
“I know that Bitay Lacson loves our country and he is committed, like me, to working for a better life for our people,” she said.
A VISIONARY
Lacson was a visionary who dreamt of making Negros Occidental a mini-Taiwan.
He drafted a 15-year master plan for Negros’ economic recovery from the Martial Law years and a sugar crisis that brought international attention to the province for its malnourished children.
Lacson was responsible for bringing Negros Occidental back on track after the EDSA People Power Revolution. He engineered the recovery and rehabilitation programs under the battle cry “Hope Shines in Negros”, Coscolluela said.
“He inspired an outpouring of volunteerism, and brought needed foreign aid to finance development programs in partnership with the private sector” in Negros Occidental, Coscolluela added.
“Bitay also convinced President Cory to make Negros Occidental the pilot province for decentralization, at a time when devolution was still a distant dream,“ he said.
Under Lacson’s watch as governor, he pushed for diversification of Negros Occidental’s economy that was dependent on the sugar industry or a monocrop economy.
He also pushed for the 60-30-10 land-use program that would allocate 60 percent of the land for sugarcane production, 30 percent to diversified products to ensure year-round jobs, and 10 percent for the sugar workers’ families’ food production.
The proposal, however, met resistance from some sugarcane planters and in the end the agrarian reform law was passed.
Lacson also pushed for the production of high value crafts that saw the birth of the Association of Negros Producers composed of mostly housewives of sugarcane planters who created alternative jobs for people working in the farms.
The ANP producers have since been exporting products abroad and staging the longest running annual provincial trade fair in Metro Manila.
Lacson also introduced the Grameen Bank concept to Negros Occidental through its founder Muhammad Yunus. Today the Negros Women for Tomorrow through its Dungganon Bank has provided micro financing for small businesses of thousands of women in Negros Occidental and other parts of the country.
Lacson, with the help of UNICEF, also embarked on a massive feeding program for undernourished children, provided food for work for the unemployed and underemployed, pushed for a potable water system through the distribution of water pumps, and for artificial reefs.
He also pushed for the creation of the Negros Island Region during the term of then president Fidel Ramos.
Lacson was born Dec. 23, 1946 to Daniel Lacson Sr. and Otilia Ledesma Lacson.
He is survived by his wife, Tima Sarabia Lacson, and their children – RJ, Patrick, Carla, Teepee and Ria.*