THE local legislative body in Zamboanga City has lost one of its competent members as a former priest turned politician succumbed to heart attack Wednesday, April 7, 2021.
Councilor Crisanto de la Cruz passed away at a local private hospital while he was about to undergo dialysis treatment.
“As head of the City Council, it is with a heavy heart that I relay the information that our City Councilor Monsi Crisanto de la Cruz passed away around 8:06 this morning,” Vice Mayor Rommel Agan posted on his social media page.
“Please join me in praying for the eternal repose of his soul. My deepest condolences to the bereaved family and friends,” Agan added.
De la Cruz became known as “Monsi” since he was already a monsigñor when he left the priesthood and threw his hat into the local political arena in 2007.
De la Cruz, who was a native of Tacloban City, ran but lost in the mayoralty race in that year (2007).
In 2009, then-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed De la Cruz as presidential assistant for Western Mindanao.
De la Cruz then established a foundation and opened a school known as Nuevo Zamboanga College and offered scholarships to deserving students of poor families.
In succeeding elections, he tried his luck as vice mayoralty (2010) and congressional candidate (2013 and 2016) but failed to get elected.
In 2019, he ran and won as councilor in this city’s first district. (SunStar Zamboanga)