SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Saturday expressed his condolences to the loved ones and constituents of Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Carlos Padilla, who passed away on Friday.
“Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers are with them, especially his wife, former Gov. Ruth Padilla, and his children – Carlos ‘Jojo’ II, Ruthie Maye and Carlo Paolo, and his grandchildren – at this difficult time of grief and mourning,” he said.
“We will always remember Gov. Carling Padilla as a great leader of his province and a humble colleague in the House of Representatives. He was always soft-spoken, non-combative, unobtrusive, level-headed,” he said.
Padilla started his political career as mayor of Dupax del Norte town in 1975.
He was on his last term as Nueva Vizcaya governor at the time of his death. After serving several three-year terms in the House, he was elected governor in 2016, reelected in 2019 and again in 2022.
He was a House member from 1987 to 1992, from 1995 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2016. While in Congress, he served as a deputy speaker and a minority leader.
Among the laws he authored/co-authored are the Free High School Education Act of 1988, Republic Act No. 6728, which provides state assistance to students and teachers in private education; RA No. 6966, which regulates the librarian profession; RA No. 7104, creating the Commission on Filipino Language; Philippine Nursing Act; Philippine Dentistry Act; RA 7168, which converted the Philippine Normal College into a university; and laws establishing schools in his province such as the Nueva Vizcaya State University and Philippine Science High School-Cagayan Valley campus in Bayombong town.
