FORMER Provincial Board member Benedict P. Lagbas, 68, has died.
Lagbas passed away at dawn on Saturday, August 31, in Sugbongcogon in the eastern part of Misamis Oriental, according to his son, Kagawad Benedict Lagbas, Jr.
The younger Lagbas said his father died of natural causes.
His father had been undergoing dialysis for the past two years because of kidney problems, Lagbas said.
The wake for the former Provincial Board member is at their residence in Brgy Poblacion, Sugbongcogon.
Misamis Oriental Vice Governor Jeremy Jonahmar Pelaez and the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan expressed their sympathy and condolences by passing a resolution during the regular session on September 2.
The late Lagbas, a notable member of the Lagbas clan of Sugbongcogon, also served as mayor of the same town.
The late Labas' older brother, former Congressman Danilo P. Lagbas, now deceased, was also a mayor of the town, serving from March 31, 1980, to March 19, 1995.
Benedict Lagbas was mayor from March 27, 1998 to June 30, 2007.
Another brother, former mayor Jerome Lagbas, was town mayor from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2016.
Mayor Mildred Lagbas-Mondigo (daughter of former mayor Jerome) is now the present mayor of the town since 2016.
Benedict Lagbas also became vice mayor of the town from July 1, 1995, to March 26, 1998, after he served three terms as president of the Board of Directors of Moresco II.
Then he completed his three three terms as a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the province from 2007 to 2016.
Lagbas will be buried at the town's cemetery at 1 am on Friday, September 6.
