Fernandinos bid ex-vice mayor goodbye

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Hundreds of Fernandinos on Wednesday bid goodbye to former vice mayor Eligio Lagman, popularly known as the “Roaring Tiger” of this city, as he was laid to rest at the Sanctuario De San Fernando after the 2 p.m. concelebrated Holy Mass at the San Agustin Church here.

At the necrological services and public viewing held at the atrium of the City Hall, common folk, government officials, business leaders, relatives and friends paid tribute to the long-term vice mayor as they waited for their turn in the long line to get a last glimpse of Lagman.

Lagman passed away last week of cardiac arrest. He was 69.

“We will surely miss him in the political scene. He has done so much for the city during his term,” said Tiger Team member Councilor Noel Tulabut.

Even the whole City Government led by Mayor Oscar Rodriguez, Lagman’s opponent in the 2010 elections, has sent a message of sympathy and condolences to his family, after branding him as “an advocate of good public service who made the city a better place to live in.”

But no one could have been aggrieved more than the marginalized whose lives, they said, were touched by Lagman in his days of service.

Teresito De Ocampo, 78, of Barangay Lourdes Looban, told Sun.Star Pampanga: “Wala pong katulad sa pagtulong si Vice Mayor Tiger. Kahit na noong hindi na siya nanunungkulan, nalalapitan pa rin namin siya. Tunay siyang mapagmahal sa mga kapos-palad na kagaya namin.”

Lagman, they said, will always be remembered because of his dedication, commitment, love for the poor and uplifting the lives of Fernandinos.