SENIOR Citizens party-list Rep. Francisco Datol Jr. died yesterday, the fourth lawmaker to have passed away under the 18th Congress. He was 71.
“It is with deep sadness that we inform you that Cong. Jun Datol passed away a few hours ago,” House Secretary General Joel Montales told reporters, without saying the lawmaker’s cause of death.
It was learned that Datol, chair of the House committee on senior citizens, had been suffering from diabetes.
The three other House members of the 18th Congress who died during the current Congress were LPG Marketers Association Inc. (LPGMA) party-list Rep. Rodolfo Albano Jr. who passed away on November 5, 2019 at the age of 85; Benguet Rep. Nestor Fongwan, 68, who died on December 18, 2019; and Camarines Sur Rep. Marissa Andaya who passed away on July 5, 2020 at the age of 51.
Before the formal opening of the 18th Congress on July 22 last year, then incoming A Teacher party-list Rep. Mariano Piamonte passed away on June 13, 2019 and was replaced by Rep. Victoria Umali.
House majority leader Martin Romualdez and wife Tingog party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez said Datol was a “beloved and exemplary leader and a man of vision, action, and compassion who championed the care for elderly.”
“His tireless work and advocacies have assisted our aging population through community-based health, rehabilitation, educational and socio-economic programs for the senior citizens,” they said.
Datol had pushed for the passage of House Bill (HB) No. 06865, An Act Mandating the Conduct of Polymerase Chain Reaction COVID-19 Testing for the Vulnerable Members of Society to Stop the Transmission of the Disease.
He also authored measures aimed at protecting the elderly, including HB 06997 or An Act Protecting Senior Citizen from Violence, Defining Elder Abuse, and Prescribing Penalties thereof, and HB No. 06148 or an Act Granting Additional Benefits and Privileges to Senior Citizens with Disabilities.
Datol belatedly took his oath last December as the duly recognized representative of the Senior Citizens party-list due to a pending issue on the recognition of the group’s official nominees before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
He was a member of the previous 17th Congress with another nominee, former Rep. Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said it remains uncertain who would be Datol’s successor.
In a phone interview, Jimenez said there are several issues that need to be resolved first regarding the list of the party-list’s nominees.
“The problem is there is a pending motion for withdrawal by its Nominees 2 to 5. It remains pending as it has yet to be resolved by the Commission,” said Jimenez, adding: “This means that as far as the Comelec is concerned, there is no clear successor because of their pending withdrawal.”
Jimenez said the best scenario will be for the House to immediately declare a vacancy in the seat of Senior Citizens.
“The best scenario is for the House Speaker to actually declare a vacancy and formally inform the Comelec of the vacancy. This will then prompt the Comelec to rule on the pending withdrawal,” he said.
“The declaration will raise the question who will be the successors. So the Comelec can now come with a response by saying this should be the successor,” he added.
During the May 2019 polls, Senior Citizens gained one House seat after garnering 516,927 votes. — With Gerard Naval
