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Former Senator Paterno dies


(Updated 4:18 p.m.) Former Senator Vicente Paterno passed away at 8:40 in the morning Friday. He was 89 years old.

A report by radio dzBB said the remains of the late senator will be brought to Sanctuario de San Antonio after the cremation at Heritage Park. The wake will start Friday night.

Malacañang mourned the death of the former senator, saying the nation has lost a distinguished public servant and exponent of principled governance.
 
“We extend our deepest sympathy to his widow and children; his passing is a loss to the country but his enduring example will remain a constant source of pride for his loved ones and the Filipino people whom he served so well,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press statement.
 
She said that as chairman of the BOI and Minister of Public Highways in the Marcos administration, Paterno refused to surrender his independence or integrity and contributed to the rebuilding of the nation after the EDSA Revolution as president of the PNOC.
 
“A respected businessman, he served on the boards of numerous corporations in addition to his family’s own enterprises. Throughout his public life, whether in the halls of government or the boardrooms of the private sector, he was an exponent of honesty, efficiency, faith and love of country," she added.
 
Valte said also notable was Paterno's advocacy of good governance as one of the prime movers in the formation of the advocacy group, Former Senior Government Officials.

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Paterno served as senator from 1987 to 1992. He was elected as one of the President Corazon Aquino's candidates in the first post-EDSA senatorial elections.
 
He was the chairman of the board and director of the Philippine Seven Corporation, owner of 7-11, which he helped set up.
 
Paterno received the Ramon V. del Rosario Award for Nation Building in 2013 for his exemplary personal life and professional career, marked by outstanding achievements.
 
Paterno was born in Quiapo, Manila on November 18, 1925.
 
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of the Philippines in 1948 and obtained Master of Business Administration at Harvard University in 1953.
 
Paterno was a lecturer in graduate school of U.P., La Salle and Ateneo de Manila from 1954 to 1962.
 
He also served as chairman of the Board of Investments from 1970 to July 1979 and subsequently Minister of Public Highways in 1979.
 
Paterno was appointed Chairman and President of Philippine National Oil Company in 1986 and later became Deputy Executive Secretary for Energy of the Office of the President from 1986 to 1987 during the first Aquino administration.
 
He leaves behind wife Socorro Paz Trinidad Pardo and their five children. —Amita Legaspi/NB/RSJ, GMA News
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