Former senator Edgardo Angara passes away

Former senator Edgardo Angara has passed away due to a heart attack, his son, Senator Sonny Angara, announced on Sunday.

Sad to say my father frmr Sen Edgardo Javier Angara passed on from this life this morning at the age of 83, from an apparent heart attack

— Sonny Angara (@sonnyangara) May 13, 2018

The younger Angara did not provide additional details.

He said his father's remains will be at the Heritage Park in Taguig City at 2 p.m. on Monday.

"We ask for prayers for the repose of his soul," the senator said.

Angara senior served as the Special Envoy to the European Union and as the Chairman of New Clark City under the current administration.

Prior to this, he served as Senator from 1987 to 1998, and from 2001 to 2013. He was Senate President from 1993 to 1995.

Among the laws he authored are the Free High School Act and those leading to the establishment of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the National Health Insurance Act (PhilHealth).

He also authored the Senior Citizens Act, the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), the Renewable Energy Act, and the Procurement Reform Act.

Angara was also the Agriculture Secretary under the administration of former President and incumbent Manila City Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and President of the University of the Philippines from 1981 to 1987.

In the private sector, Angara founded—along with other law classmates—the ACCRA Law Offices, one of the top law firms in the Philippines. He was also the chairman of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) from 1998 to 1999.  — with a report by Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/ALG/BM, GMA News