City mourns councilors demise

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

A TRUE BROADCAST journalist. A sincere public servant. An ideal father and husband.

These are the qualities attributed to Iloilo City Councilor Armand Parcon who passed away evening of May 23, 2019 after a bout with pneumonia.

Parcon was 59 when he died at the West Visayas Medical Center. He had just survived lung cancer and even joined the campaigned trail for his third and last term when he succumbed to pneumonia.

He has been in and out of the hospital this year because of his ailment. The last time he was confined was on April 28, according to his wife Veronica.

During the session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Friday, fellow councilors expressed their sympathies and sense of loss for Parcon, who was also a former reporter and commentator of Bombo Radyo-Iloilo before he joined politics.

Councilor Plaridel Nava dubbed Parcon as one of the best councilors to serve the city.

“It’s sudden on our part with the loss a colleague who stood for the people on several occasions. We have a lot of fond memories with him. He is one of the best, if not the brightest among the members of the City Council,” he said.

Councilor Candice Tupas said, “I would like to express my deepest sympathies to the family of Councilor Armand Parcon who is a good friend of my husband Lex. He fought a long hard battle more than anyone else could, he went through it and it just shows how a fighter and how brave he has been for his family and to take care of his position in the city council”.

Meanwhile, Councilor Joshua Alim described Parcon as an independent minded public servant who can make a stand on his own even against the will of his party.

“Against the will of his party group, he stood with us with Councilor Nava in our fight against illegal drugs especially when Aksyon Radyo was under siege of drug lords. He is an independent minded public servant, who can make a stand on his own,” Alim said.

According to Alim, Parcon was one of the most admired public servants because of his humility.

“His loss is not only my loss. It’s the people’s loss. Councilor Armand Parcon’s loss is the loss of the City Council,” he said.

Despite his health concerns, Parcon continued serving as city councilor and even sought reelection in the May 13 elections.

He was initially diagnosed with lung cancer.

He sought a fresh mandate under the group of lone district congressman and mayor-elect Jerry Treñas. He landed on the second spot among the 12 elected councilors with 105,912 votes.

Parcon was absent during the proclamation of winners because he was bedridden.

As a city councilor, Parcon was known for standing for his principles especially in making decisions in the City Council.

He would either vote against a certain resolution or choose to abstain even if his political group decides to do the opposite. 

Parcon has five children with Veronica. His eldest is a lady lawyer with the Public Attorney’s Office while another child is about to finish medicine.

 

REPLACEMENT

With his sudden death, many are asking about his replacement in the City Council. Some surmise that the 13^th placer in the city council race will join the winners’ circle.

But Treñas said succession does not apply in Parcon’s case as their party, the National Unity Party, will appoint the late councilor’s replacement.

“The party will appoint his replacement which will be submitted to Malacañang for President Duterte’s approval,” he said.

Lawyer Ferdinand Panes, Department of Interior and Local Government-Iloilo City head, agreed with Treñas’ stand saying that Parcon’s political party has the privilege to appoint his replacement.

But can NUP bets who lost in the May 13 election replace Parcon?

Panes said the “lame duck provision” or one-year ban on the appointment of defeated candidates to any government post stands in the way.

“We will have to seek guidance from the DILG central office as regards this issue,” he added.