Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon, surrounded by his family, peacefully passed away at his residence at Santa Clara Subdivision in Bacolod City at 6:40 last night, six days before his 74th birthday.

The governor succumbed to cardio-pulmonary arrest and died in his sleep as he had wished, his chief of staff Jose Ma. Valencia said.

The governor had been undergoing treatment for a growth in his liver that was aggravated when he was hit by community acquired pneumonia during the May elections last year.

The governor, despite his long battle with illness, was known for his infectious laughter and jolly disposition that endeared him to many.

For months he insisted on coming to work against doctors’ advice until he was too frail to do so, but even from his sickbed he gave instructions to his staff on what to do.

He last reported for work on Jan. 2 but was instructed by his doctors to rest as he began to lose his appetite.

A very frail Marañon in his last interview with the media on Jan. 2 at the Capitol, called on the support and cooperation of Negrenses for priority programs of the provincial government for 2008.

“A change of heart is important in ensuring one’s commitment to change,” he said, as he spoke of the many things he still wanted to do for Negros Occidental.

Marañon was fondly called “319”, referring to his call sign which represents his birth date, March 19, when he  would have turned 74.

He was elected governor of Negros Occidental in 2001, 2004 and 2007, and was a three-term mayor of Sagay City from 1992 to 2001.

Flags throughout Negros Occidental will fly half-mast for the governor today.

The Marañon family is requesting that the governor’s wish for flowers to be omitted is respected. It was the governor’s wish that amounts spent for flowers be instead given to the Carmelite Monastery, and Balay Paga-asa in Bacolod City, Donodella Providenza Home Inc. in Pontevedra or any charitable institution.

The remains of the governor will be in a closed casket at the Carmelite Monastery today and will be transferred to the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod on Saturday.

His remains will then be brought to Sagay for burial  Sunday or Monday, Valencia said.

It was the governor’s wish that no necrological services be held, Valencia, who marked his birthday yesterday, said.

In 2002, a growth was discovered in the governor’s liver but doctors in the Philippines and at Stanford University in San Francisco in 2005 found him fully cured, Valencia said.

Then later doctors in Manila discovered that portions of his liver had a growth again, medication was started and he was responding to treatment, until he was hit by community acquired pneumonia during the 2007 campaign that started his on-and-off deteriorating health, Valencia said.

The governor has been prepared for any eventuality for five years now, Valencia said.

Marañon had served as president of the Municipal Mayors League of Negros Occidental and vice president for the Visayas of the League of Cities of the Philippines.

He also successfully established and managed his own businesses, from rural banking to agriculture, and was a director of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines, and director and vice president of the Sagay-Escalante Planters Association, his official bio-data states.

He was also a director of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, president of the Northern Negros Planters Association Inc., M & L Agro-Industrial Corp. and Phoenix Philippines Industrial Corp.

As mayor of Sagay he steered its transformation from town to city, and the Sagay Marine Reserve won a 1997 Galing Pook Award as among the Top 10 programs with innovation and excellence in local governance.

Marañon’s campaign slogan in 2001 was “Beyond the Basics” and as governor he focused on a Seven-Point Priority Agenda for Development and won numerous national awards for the province.

The governor pushed for increased food productivity  and organic agriculture, and as part of his tourism development thrust he directed the development of the Mambukal Resort that is now a multi-million earner for the province.

He also renovated the Capitol building and restored it as the seat of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.

Marañon was born on March 19, 1934 to Alfredo Marañon Sr., a former provincial board member, and Salvacion Galicia, public school teacher, now both deceased.

Marañon had a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree  major in Accounting from De La Salle University in Manila.

He is survived by his wife Aida Lopez and his three children Sagay Councilor Joseph Gerard Marañon, Ma. Lourdes Yupangco and Ma. Therese Ledesma, his brother Sagay Mayor Alfredo Marañon III and his sister, Sonia Sarrosa.*CPG

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