FORMER House Speaker Prospero “Boy” Nograles, 71, passed away “peacefully” on Saturday, May 4, his son, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, announced.

In a statement, Nograles said his father is now “finally at peace.”

“Papa passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family,” the Cabinet Secretary said.

“We kindly request prayers for the eternal repose of his soul, and extend our gratitude to all those who were a part of my Papa Boy Nogie's meaningful life and journey,” he added.

The late Nograles was a lawyer who graduated from the Ateneo School of Law and placed second in the 1971 Bar Examinations.

As a lawyer, he represented victims of human rights violations during the term of the late president Ferdinand Marcos. He later joined the campaign of the late President Corazon Aquino in the 1986 snap elections.

He served his first term as representative of the First District of Davao City in 1989, a post he again won in 1995 and held for three consecutive terms from 2001 to 2010.

The cabinet official acknowledged that the late Speaker “was a driven public servant who loved his family and faithfully served his constituents.”

“His fifteen years in public service—punctuated by his election as the first House Speaker from Mindanao—was dedicated to uplifting the welfare of Dabawenyos and the people of Mindanao,” Nograles said, referring to his father. (SunStar Philippines)