FORMER Cebu City councilor and tri-media practitioner Vicente “June” Kintanar Jr. passed away at dawn yesterday after he suffered a heart attack.
He was 73.
His eldest son Boobi told Sun.Star Cebu that his father had a lingering illness related to his heart condition and had been confined in the hospital for the last two months. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for a day. “My father did not like to stay at the ICU, so he was transferred to a regular room,” he said.
Passions
He said most of the family members were by their father’s side yesterday, including his 70-year-old mother Lee and siblings TV 5 station manager Karla Kintanar-Fernandez and Cebu City consultant Han Kintanar.
“He (June) passed away peacefully. We knew he led a good life,” said Boobi, adding that the legacy of his father will remain.
“(These are) his two passions, public service, good governance and his being a media practitioner,” he said.
Boobi said his father ran for a seat in the Cebu City Council in 1980 and ended up garnering the most number of votes. This was during the time when the city was not yet divided into north and south districts.
Public servant
In 1983, June, as first councilor, became vice mayor when then mayor Florentino Solon was appointed health minister. Then vice mayor Ronald Duterte replaced Solon.
June Kintanar was a newscaster for Channel 7, or GMA, in the early 1980s and was a columnist for both Sun.Star Cebu and Sun.Star Superbalita.
His media stint began working as a staff announcer for the defunct radio dyVM. His media career spanned five decades, from 1960 to 2010.
His body lies in state at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes and will be brought to his hometown of Argao on Friday.
He will be buried at the Kintanar Family Park on Jan. 12, after the 1 p.m. necrological services.