(Eagle News)–Senators mourned the death of former Senate President Nene Pimentel, who passed away after battling lymphoma and pneumonia on Sunday, Oct. 20.
“My family and I bereave this very sad news. I feel like I lost a close relative and not just a friend. I was his majority leader when he was Senate President and we were very close. He was my idol!” Senate President Tito Sotto said.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Pimentel “lived a passionate and fruitful life.”
He said he will personally remember him as the “champion of local government units” whose landmark measure, Local Government Code of 1991, led to the empowerment of LGUs across the country by “allowing them to create their own source of revenue and enable them to levy taxes and fees, among others.”
Senator Sonny Angara described Pimentel as “an influential voice in the public space which contributed immensely in making our country better.”
“Never the bullhorn of the powerful, he instead lent his big voice to the small people . That has been the story of his life – an advocate for the down and out, a champion of the powerless and the persecuted,” he said.
He said Pimentel was, however, “as good in opposing abuses as he was in proposing solutions to the problems of the state.”
“He was also a gentleman of the old school, where political differences are not allowed get in the way of real friendship,” he said.
“He may have left us, but his legacy will always remain and be remembered,” Gatchalian added.
Pimentel was 85 years old.
