FORMER Mayor Braulio Yaranon bids goodbye to the city he loved.
The former mayor quietly passed, Monday morning, in a local hospital with family surrounding him at his deathbed. He was 91.
Yaranon was dramatically elected into office in 2004 as a dark horse bet, catapulted into power backed by a people’s vote and the religious sector, toppling one of the most formidable politicians and taking the mayoralty by a landslide.
He holds the distinction of being the oldest mayor to be elected and was fondly called “Lolo Mayor.”
Yaranon was a retired regional trial court judge when he assumed the city top post and was a former councilor.
He is known as one of the staunchest advocates of good governance and vowed to cut what he described as an “institutionalized graft and corruption” at City Hall at that time, expelling gambling, payola and the infamous pay parking company, Jadewell, from the city.
Yaranon’s first order, when he assumed office, was to direct citizens not to pay street parking fees from the pay parking company which was the start of an epic battle he saw through till the end, ousting the firm from the city but suffering its repercussions.
Yaranon’s term is remembered to be a fight for what he believed was best for the city and for his witty one liners which almost always ruffled feathers from his adversaries who regarded him with a mix of respect and fear.
The official announcement for the bereavement from the family is being awaited as of Monday, May 15. (Maria Elena Catajan)