Senate honors Dodong Gullas

CEBU, Philippines — The Senate of the Philippines has passed a resolution honoring the life and dedicated public service of the late The FREEMAN chairman Jose “Dodong” Gullas.

Gullas, 87, succumbed to pancreatic cancer on February 25, 2021.

Senate Resolution No. 90 sponsored by Senator Richard Gordon expressed the Senate’s profound sympathy and sincere condolences to the bereaved members of the family.

As former representative of the first district of Cebu, sir Dodong was instrumental in decentralizing the payroll system in public elementary schools to address the problem of the delayed release of salaries of teachers.

As executive vice president of the family-owned University of the Visayas, he pioneered the night classes for working students at the university which enable countless individuals to get an education through his “study now, pay later plan”.

“Representative Dr. Dodong Gullas is a public servant from Cebu, a champion of Cebuano arts and music and education, a renowned journalist and a devout supporter of the Catholic Church,” part of the Senate resolution reads.

The resolution which was signed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III described the illustrious son of Cebu as a “titan of education”.

In 1965, he revived The FREEMAN, the longest and oldest newspaper in Cebu founded in 1919 by his uncle, the late Paulino Gullas.

The publication has earned several accolades under his chairmanship, a position he held until his death.

A known philanthropist and a devout Catholic, sir Dodong had been very active in the cause for the beatification of the late Cebu archbishop Teofilo Camomot. —FPL (FREEMAN)