Cebu City Mayor Labella passes away

Cebu City Mayor Edgardo 'Edgar' Labella (File photo)
Cebu City Mayor Edgardo 'Edgar' Labella (File photo)
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CEBU City Mayor Edgardo Labella passed away early Friday morning, November 19, 2021, after having been in and out of the hospital due to pneumonia.

He was 70.

His son, Edgardo "Jaypee" Labella II, told members of the media Friday that the mayor died at 4 a.m. Friday due to septic shock. He was hospitalized for 23 days.

Here's a video of SunStar Cebu's interview with Labella after he was elected as mayor of Cebu City in 2019:

The wake will be at Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City. His remains will also be brought to City Hall.

"There were times when he was sad about the city and times when he was worried about what was going on, but we always told him that the city is in good hands with Michael Rama," Jaypee said.

Labella's family, in a statement, said "Mayor Labella, who served the city untiringly at the height of the pandemic until conditions improved, lost the battle he waged. He had initially been managing his illness well when the lockdowns compromised his situation. His immediate cause of death was septic shock secondary to pneumonia."

"We mourn the loss of the mayor who, throughout his years in government service, kept close to his heart the people he served," the statement further said.

Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama was the first to confirm the mayor's death.

Labella, prior to becoming mayor, served as Cebu City vice mayor from 2013 to 2019. He also served as a city councilor from 1998 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2013.

Labella was also the director of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas from 1994 to 1998.

He was one of the survivors of the 1998 sinking of the M/V Princess of the Orient, a passenger ferry that sank after sailing from Manila to Cebu at the height of Typhoon Vicki. At least 150 people died in the sinking. (AYB/LMY)

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