House to hold requiem mass, necro service for ex-speaker

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will hold a requiem mass and necrological service tomorrow in honor of the late speaker Prospero Nograles.

Nograles, former congressman of Davao City, succumbed to cancer at 71 over the weekend.

Flags at the House were flown at half-mast ahead of the mass and necrological service on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon.

The remains of Nograles, who was fondly called “Boy Nogie,” will be flown to his hometown in Davao City afterwards for interment.

A two-day wake is also being held at Chapel 1 of Heritage Park at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.

“It was my honor that he was Speaker from 2008 to 2010 during my presidency. I recall how much he was loved, not only by his fellow congressmen but, just as important, by the staff of the House whose welfare he cared so much about,” Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said. 

“We will miss him,” she added.

Arroyo recalled she was still an undersecretary at the Department of Trade and Industry in the late ’80s when Nograles was a neophyte congressman who helped her through Congress. 

“He was very helpful to me when it was my task as undersecretary of DTI to navigate our department’s relations with Congress,” Arroyo said. 

“We mourn the passing of former Speaker Nograles and offer our deepest condolences to his loved ones and constituents. A Bar topnotcher, he served for a long time in Congress,” Arroyo said.