Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo (File photo)
MANILA – Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Tuesday extended his condolences to the family of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Benhur Abalos following the death of the latter’s mother, Corazon Abalos.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Ms. Corazon Abalos, wife of former Chairman of the Commission on Elections Benjamin Abalos Sr., mother of current Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Benhur Abalos, and grandmother of Mandaluyong City Councilor Charisse Marie Abalos-Vargas,” Panelo said in a statement.
The Abalos matriarch died Monday of severe sepsis, secondary to pneumonia due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), according to the official statement released by MMDA.
Corazon and her husband were first reported to have contracted Covid-19 in July last year.
As a precautionary measure, members of the Abalos family will still undergo another five-day quarantine and another swabbing, the MMDA said.
Panelo described Corazon, being his “dear personal friend of long years,” as a “beautiful, gentle, kind, thoughtful and generous person who always had a smile on her face.”
“She was very much loved by her family because of her loving and caring devotion to them, as well as the people of Mandaluyong, owing to her sweet and gentle ways and passion to serve the female population of the city where she established foundations for both the adult women and Girl Scouts of Mandaluyong,” he said.
Panelo also prayed for Corazon’s eternal repose.
He said he was comforted by the thought that “the angels in heaven will accompany her in her voyage to the great beyond”.
“Our prayers go to her as her soul travels beyond the physical plane to meet our Maker, even as we share in the grief of her loved ones by her passing. We pray that she may rest in eternal peace and perpetual light will shine upon her,” he said. (PNA)
