MURCIA – About 3,000 people gathered at Hacienda Binitin here Saturday morning to bid goodbye to former Negros Occidental Governor and Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Montelibano Jr. who was laid to rest in the family mausoleum after a 21-gun salute and the soulful playing of taps.

“He was a man of service, who served his people well,” said Msgr. Victorino Rivas, Vicar General of the Diocese of Bacolod, who gave the homily at the concelebrated funeral mass led by Batanes Bishop Camilo Gregorio.

Montelibano, the longest serving governor of Negros Occidental from 1968 to 1986, and mayor of Bacolod from 1988 to 1995, was described at necrological services for him during his two week wake, as a leader who was loved by the people.

At his funeral, people from all walks of life from farmworkers, landowners, teachers, businessmen, government employees and officials came to pay their last respects.

Among the grieving was Montelibano's widow, Miriam Jhay Banks, who wept as she bent over to kiss him on the forehead before his casket was finally closed and entered into a vault among his ancestors, which include his father Alfredo Montelibano Sr. – a World War II resistance leader, former secretary of national defense and first mayor of Bacolod City .

Montelibano Jr. suffered from gastric esophageal cancer and succumbed to cardio pulmonary arrest on Jan. 2.

One of his sons, Dondi, from his previous marriage to the late Mita Lopez, thanked his Tita Jhay for having cared for his father when he was very sick until the very end.

Rivas, in his homily, called Montelibano a loyal member of the Catholic Church who was at all times conscious of his faith.

“His being a Catholic defined his life, his convictions, his choices,” Rivas said

Montelibano was a close friend of the late Bacolod Bishop Antonio Fortich and “this friendship translated itself into love for the Church and a deeper relationship with the Diocese (of Bacolod ).” Rivas said.

Rivas thanked the Montelibano family for the donation of the lots where St. Scholastica's Academy, the University of St. La Salle , St. Joseph 's School-La Salle, St. John's Institute, and the Immaculate Concepcion, Queen of Peace and Redemptorist churches now stand.

Rivas said the former governor and mayor did not enrich himself while in power. “That is why, contrary to what we see in the national scene today, we have here a man who dedicated his life to politics and died poorer than when he entered it,” Rivas said.

Montelbano Jr. was also a man of peace who believed in dialog rather than the arrogance of power, Rivas added.

“Junior got his power from the people. Like his friend Fortich, he had a mass base,” Rivas said.

He dedicated himself to the service of the people and as a politician was not afraid to align himself with the Church even when it was unpopular to do so, Rivas added.

Montelibano is survived by his wife, Jhay, children Andy, Allan Dondi, Philip and Corazon.*CPG

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