Gov Padilla a 'great leader, humble colleague', says Romualdez
Nueva Vizcaya Governor Carlos Padilla (right) (MANILA BULLETIN)
A "great leader" and a "humble colleague". That's how House Speaker Martin Romualdez described the late Nueva Vizcaya Governor Carlos Padilla, who passed away on Friday, May 5. “Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers are with them, especially his wife, former governor Ruth Padilla, and his children - Carlos ‘Jojo’ II, Ruthie Maye and Carlo Paolo, and his grandchildren - at this difficult time of grief and mourning,” Romualdez said in a statement on Saturday morning, May 6. “We will always remember Governor 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, 78, 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. He was elected governor in 2016, reelected in 2019, and again in 2022. Among the laws he authored or co-authored were Republic Act (RA) No. 6728 or the Free High School Education Act of 1988, 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.