Talisay City Mayor Anthony Valderrama Lizares, who would have turned 39 today, passed away at the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City from multiple organ failure at 3:15 p.m. yesterday.

Lizares, who was suffering from end stage liver disease, was hospitalized on Jan. 1 and was placed in the Intensive Care Unit Sunday night after he suffered from massive bleeding and became comatose, Dr. John Ledesma, his attending physician, said.

Lizares was also admitted to the Riverside Medical Center around December of 2004 and his liver then was only 30 to 35 percent functioning, Ledesma told the DAILY STAR.

When the mayor was readmitted on Jan 1, his liver function was down to 20 percent, the doctor added.

Lizares was transferred to the ICU Saturday for a cleansing procedure of the blood and moved to a regular hospital room Sunday afternoon but in the evening he suffered from massive bleeding and became comatose at about 10:30 p.m. and never recovered, Ledesma said.

Lizares' liver was so damaged, it was beyond repair, it had given up on him, Ledesma said.

The mayor had Hepato Renal Syndrome, which means he not only suffered from liver damage but kidney damage as well, Ledesma said.

Last week, we talked about the possibility of a liver transplant but after conferring with doctors in Manila regarding liver transplants on patients in the stage the mayor was in, it was determined that the batting average for survival was zero, Ledesma said, so the family decided that a liver transplant was not an option.

During Lizares' hospitalization, he suffered from partial blindness, Ledesma said, and eye and brain doctors determined that the problem was caused by liver damage.

However, last week the mayor regained his eyesight and was able to watch television and send text messages that made us hopeful, Ledesma said.

Some of the members of the mayor's family hoped that he would survive until today for his birthday, but I said that maybe the best birthday gift that we could give him was to let him rest from all his hardships, Ledesma said.

When it became apparent he was no longer responding to medication yesterday morning, the Lizares family decided to hold further medication and to keep only the mayor's respirator and intravenous fluids going, Ledesma said.

Ledesma assured the family that when the mayor went into a coma Sunday night, he no longer felt pain.

In one of the last conversations I had with the mayor, the one thing he really looked forward to was being able to get out of the hospital and sing one of his Frank Sinatra songs, Ledesma said.

Dr. Ledesma's father, Louie Ledesma, will be dedicating his show "Among My Souvenirs" that airs 9 a.m. Saturday on DZRJ 100 to the mayor by playing Frank Sinatra songs.

The doctor said he knows of two other Lizares men who died young from liver failure.

"Maybe it runs in the family that they don't have an enzyme in the liver that breaks down alcohol into a less toxic substance," Ledesma said.

The mayor's body will lie in state at the Villa Valderrama Chapel in Bacolod City before being transferred to the Talisay City Hall.

The mayor was born on Jan. 17, 1967 to Amelo Lizares, the first city mayor of Talisay, and Teresita Valderrama Lizares.

He is the grandson of Don Simplicio Lizares, a member of the 1936 constitutional convention, and the grand nephew of Dr. Antonio Lizares, former governor of Negros Occidental.

Anthony Lizares, who was single, was a three-termer mayor who was first elected in 1998. Prior to that, he was the number one councilor of Talisay from 1995 to 1998.

He was the founding chairman of the Talisay Young Professionals, honorary member of the Rotary Club of Talisay and Partners Club of Talisay, member of the Talisay City Jaycees and Green Club of Negros Occidental, and an active member of the Singles for Christ, Cursillo and Lingkod sa Panginoon.

Gov. Joseph Marañon yesterday said the Negros Occidental provincial government condoles with the family of Lizares on his untimely death.

Talisaynons have lost a son who worked hard to make their city progressive and to attend to their needs, they will miss him and the work he has done, Marañon said.

Vice Mayor Eric Saratan said the flag in Talisay City will fly at half mast for the mayor.

Saratan automatically becomes mayor of Talisay while the city's first councilor Neil Lizares will become vice mayor.*CPG

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