Ex-DOTC chief dies of stroke

BATANGAS , Philippines   â€“ Former transportation secretary Leandro Mendoza died yesterday morning after suffering a stroke. He was 67.

Mendoza’s son Mark Llandro, a congressman representing the 4th district of Batangas, told The STAR by phone yesterday that his father died at 1:30 a.m. in their ancestral house at sitio Pag-Asa, Barangay Poblacion, San Juan, Batangas.

“It was so sudden. He was in his rehabilitation when he suffered another stroke,” Mark Llandro said.

On March 17, 2012 Mendoza was rushed to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig after suffering a heart attack while celebrating his advance birthday party at a resort in San Juan, Batangas,

He was airlifted to the hospital after he complained of dizziness and was found lying on the ground. He survived his first attack and was declared in stable condition.

Mark Llandro said his father’s remains will be brought to Heritage Park in Taguig City. He said other details of the interment will be announced later.

Mendoza is survived by his wife Soledad and their six children – Mark Llandro, Maria Leah, Michael, Maria Leilani, Matthew and Maria Leanne.

Graft case may be dismissed

The graft case against Mendoza before the Sandiganbayan for his supposed role in the national broadband network (NBN) deal anomaly is expected to be dismissed due to his death.

Under the usual process, the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division said the deceased person’s lawyer will submit a written manifestation informing magistrates of his client’s demise.

After the submission of a death certification and other documentary proof, ombudsman prosecutors will be given a chance to comment on a motion to dismiss by the accused and conduct an independent verification.

The Sandiganbayan, upon resolving such motion for dismissal of the criminal case, may choose to declare the junking of the charges against the deceased or wait for the final resolution of the case before making a ruling.

Mendoza was among those indicted for graft by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales in March last year for allegedly acting in conspiracy with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and husband Jose Miguel Arroyo, former National Economic and Development Authority director-general Romulo Neri, and former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. in approving the overpriced $329-million NBN deal between the Philippine government and China’s ZTE Corp. in 2007.

Mendoza entered a not guilty plea to the charges.

Family man, steadfast leader

Mark Llandro told The STAR that his father “was a true friend, a great family man, and he really loved and served his country well.”

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. expressed his sympathies to the family of Mendoza, whom he described as “a steadfast leader.”

“I thought he was on the way to recovery. His passing shocked me. I was just talking to Mrs. Mendoza and my dear colleague Cong. Dong Mendoza recently,” Belmonte said.

Arroyo, meanwhile, said she was “profoundly saddened by the loss of my dear friend and trusted colleague.”

“Attorney (Jose Miguel) Arroyo and I extend our deepest condolences to his family in their hour of bereavement,” Arroyo said in a statement released by her chief of staff, Raul Lambino. – With Michael Punongbayan, Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jaime Laude