FORMER social welfare secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman passed away on Sunday at the age of 68.
Soliman’s husband, lawyer Hector Soliman, said the former Cabinet secretary during the Arroyo and Aquino administrations passed away at 7:32 a.m. due to complications from renal and heart failure.
She contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in August but had already recovered.
Mr. Soliman said details about his wife’s wake will be announced at a later date, as he appealed to the public to pray for the eternal repose of her soul and to give the family time and privacy to grieve.
The DSWD, in a statement, mourned the passing of Soliman and said they would miss and remember her “notable accomplishments for the department. She will also be remembered for her sunflower greetings.”
Soliman served as DSWD chief during the terms of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the late president Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III. She was known for being a “brilliant social worker and a devoted champion of social change”.
It was during her term as social welfare chief that the programs Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), the country’s community driven development program, was conceptualized.
Vice President Leni Robredo paid tribute to Soliman, calling the late social welfare secretary her family’s “lifesaver.”
“Sec. Dinky was pure of heart, humble and compassionate,” Robredo said in a Facebook post, as she recalled that Soliman was the one who kept her family company during the entire search operations when her husband, former interior secretary Jesse Robredo died in a plane crash in August 2012, making sure “that I ate and slept during those harrowing days.”
“Sec. Dinky was then in Batangas for the long weekend, spending precious time with the family, because her husband, Hector, who was then working in Bangladesh, was home for a quick break. Despite this, and without even knowing us (yet), she volunteered. She was on the next available plane to Naga and kept us company during the entire search operations,” she said.
Robredo said Soliman accompanied her, sitting on a couch while she tried to get some sleep.
“She would be on the couch just beside me, making sure she was there when I wake up. PNoy (President Aquino), Sec. Mar (Roxas), Sec. Volts (Voltaire Gazmin), Sec. Leila (de Lima) would call her to update her on everything that’s happening, and she would be the one to relay information to us. She was our lifesaver, in every sense of the word. She was the first person outside the family who knew of my decision to run for Congress, then the vice presidency,” she said.
Robredo also announced Soliman’s passing on her radio program, crediting her for expanding the implementation of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program for the indigent population.
Soliman’s colleagues during the Aquino administration likewise honored the former public leader.
Former presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda and former finance secretary Cesar Purisima expressed sadness over the demise of their former colleague.
“Dinky was our indefatigable DSWD secretary. In any calamity, she was there. She ensured the poorest were not left behind through the CCT program. She was the smallest member of our Cabinet but had the biggest heart among us. Salamat Dinky! Rest now in your little patch of sunflowers,” Lacierda posted in his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Purisima in his Facebook account posted: “Oh no Dinky Soliman. Rest in Peace my dear friend. You will now be in eternal sunflower bliss. We will miss you.”
He asked Soliman to “say hi to #Pnoy for us,” referring to Aquino who died in June.
He said Soliman “helped, touched and gave hope to millions of people” after she introduced programs such as the conditional cash transfer program.
Senators also gave their last salute to the former DSWD secretary.
Liberal Party president and Sen. Francis Pangilinan said he and his wife Sharon were “deeply saddened by your passing.”
“Rest in peace, my dead classmate. You were an indefatigable, unsinkable fighter until the very end, Dinky. Rest now amidst the cast and beautiful sunflower fields in Heaven.
Deepest condolences to Hector, the kids and the entire Soliman and Juliano clans,” Pangilinan said in his Facebook account.
Sen. Richard Gordon extended his sympathies to the Soliman family as he remembered that Soliman, as DSWD secretary, has been his partner in many humanitarian relief and assistance projects especially to families affected by calamities.
“She gave life and hope to our [suffering] countrymen when she was the DSWD secretary.
I pray for the repose of her soul. Thank you for your service, Sec. Dinky!” Gordon said in his Facebook account.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Soliman’s contribution to social services is something that cannot be forgotten.
“Rest in peace Sec. Dinky Soliman. It’s impossible to forget how the DSWD under her watch went all out in helping us craft the Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan, providing all the needed data. She never missed attending a coordination meeting that we called,” Lacson said in a Tweet. — With Wendell Vigilia and Raymond Africa
