BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya: Newly-installed Gov. Jose “Jing” Gambito issued his first executive order (EO) declaring a period of mourning in the entire province in response to the passing of former Gov. Carlos Padilla.
The elected vice governor, Gambito, 69, was officially sworn into office as the governor of Nueva Vizcaya on Friday afternoon, May 5, 2023 at the Provincial Capitol building here.
His ascension came after Padilla, 78, succumbed to heart attack on Friday morning, May 5, 2023 inside his house in Barangay Quirino, Solano town.
In his EO1, Gambito said the Provincial Government of Nueva Vizcaya (PLGU) “enjoins all public and private offices, government agencies, municipalities and constituents to observe a period of mourning.”
“[The period of mourning is] to recognize his greatness as a statesman and to dignify his contributions as a true public servant not only to the province of Nueva Vizcaya but also to the nation,” he said.
Also in his EO1, the governor ordered that the National Flag shall be flown at half-mast as a sign of mourning in the Provincial Capitol Building, Sangguninag Panlalawigan Building, provincial government-managed hospitals and in municipal halls until the interment of the former governor.
Gambito urged all concerned to observe The Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines of Republic Act (RA) 8491 in having the National Flag flown at half-mast.
He also ordered that the National Flag be flown at half-mast on all government and private buildings and places where it is displayed in the province during the days of mourning subject to existing laws and regulations.
Gambito ordered that the forefront of the Provincial Capitol be draped in black from the official announcement of Gov. Padilla’s death until his burial and that no intermission numbers be presented during the flag-raising ceremony conducted every Monday until the interment.
“The provincial government profoundly commends the honorable leadership of our late Governor Padilla and his manifold contributions to the province of Nueva Vizcaya and its constituents,” he added.
A public servant who served the Province of Nueva Vizcaya and its constituents, Padilla served as mayor of the undivided town of Dupax and later became the first mayor of Dupax del Norte town.
In 1974, he was one of the eight Assemblymen elected to represent Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) in the Interim Batasang Pambansa.
Cagayan Valley comprises the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and the island province of Batanes.
Padilla was also elected in Congress as Representative for the Lone District of Nueva Vizcaya for the 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th Congress and served as Deputy Speaker and Minority Leader.
He also became one of the members of the Commission on Appointment or CA and the House of Representative Electoral Tribunal or HRET.
Also in the House of Representatives, Padilla became known to be a champion of education and culture having authored several landmark legislations such as RA 6655 also known as an Act Establishing and Providing Free Public Secondary Education and the creation of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts or NCAA.
“By reason of his unwavering dedication to public service and his enormous contribution to the Novo Vizcayanos and the Filipino people, he (Padilla) earned the reputation as the Legend of the North,” Gambito added in his EO1. LEANDER C. DOMINGO