House Speaker Velasco leads tribute for late Cebu City Rep. Del Mar

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Thursday led the necrological service for the late Cebu City 1st District Rep. Raul V. Del Mar at the plenary hall inside the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.

He also presented Del Mar's family with a copy of House Resolution No. 1355 to express the chamber’s profound condolences on the veteran lawmaker’s death.

The resolution was adopted by the House on Nov. 17, the day the news about Del Mar’s death broke out.

Del Mar is survived by his wife, Melanie, and his three children, former Representatives Raoul and Rachel Marguerite, and Ryan Benjamin.

On Nov. 18, Speaker Velasco was appointed caretaker of Cebu City’s first legislative district noting that this was done “upon the wishes of the late Rep. Del Mar, as communicated by his family and constituency.”

Velasco, in his eulogy, called Del Mar a “great leader, a humble public servant, and the pride of the Cebuanos.”

“He (Del Mar) was also a mentor to me, and with all the respect I hold for him, I would have made him one of my deputy speakers,” he added.

Del Mar, Velasco also said, left the legislative chamber with a large void to fill.

“To a man who never lost an election, attained perfect attendance for 27 years in Congress, crafted landmark legislations, rendered unlimited basic services to his constituents, Raul, you have toiled more than enough for the people you have served with all your heart,”  he said.

Del Mar was lawyer by profession and earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Del Mar was called “Cebu’s father of legislative infrastructure,” as he is one of the veterans of the House who started his career in 1987.

Del Mar authored 74 laws — two in the 18th Congress, eight in the 17th Congress and 64 in the previous Congresses. 

Among these are: Republic Act (RA) 11291, otherwise known as the Magna Carta of the Poor; RA 11458 or the “Expanded Sotto Law”; RA 8344 or An Act Penalizing the Refusal of Hospitals and Licensed Medical Clinics to Administer Appropriate Initial Medical Treatment and Support in Emergency or Serious Cases; RA 7621 or the Charter of the Cebu Port Authority; and RA 6958 or the Charter of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority.

Del Mar was a Papal awardee, as the late Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal gave him the Humanae Vitae Award and Papal Cross Croce Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (Cross for the Church and the Pontiff) in 2010.

Other awards and citations include the Presidential Medal of Merit Award and Pro Deo Vitae Et Patria Award in 2007 and Outstanding Carolinian Alumni Award and The Outstanding Filipinos (TOFIL) Award for government and public service in 2018. -- BAP, GMA News