Jose de Vencia Jr. memorial services, burial schedule announced

Gina de Venecia, wife of late Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., shared Wednesday the schedule of the wake and memorial services in honor of the former House leader.

From February 11 to 13, the wake will be held at Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City, with a Holy Mass, which will be officiated at 7 p.m.

His remains will then be brought in the Annunciation of the Lord Parish Bonuan Gueset in Dagupan City from February 14 to 15.

A memorial and necrological service at the House of Representatives in Batasang Pambansa will be held on February 16. The next day, his remains will be brought again to Heritage Memorial Park. 

The burial is scheduled on February 18.

The former Speaker passed away on Tuesday, February 10, at the age of 89.

READ: Who was Jose de Venecia Jr.?

In a statement, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto highlighted the contributions of De Venecia, saying the latter was a leader driven to make the Philippines great. 

"In Joe de Venecia, we saw the grit and the grace of a leader driven to make his nation great," Recto said.

"Never content with the status quo, he championed reforms that broke down barriers, and overthrew conventions that hindered progress," he added. 

According to Recto, De Venecia had the courage to imagine things for the better, and the boldness to pursue them.

"As a young diplomat in a country splintered by war, he reached across battlefields and ideological fault lines to talk peace," Recto said.

"As an entrepreneur, he was among the first to see the potential of oil economies as employer of our talent, whose remittances enabled millions of families to realize their dreams," he added.

Recto said that as a House leader, he was "the hopeless optimist who believed in the art of the possible, that ideas once dismissed as unthinkable, such as the break up of entrenched monopolies, soon became laws of the land." — VDV, GMA Integrated News