By Dennis Baguio/PNA
IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay — Gov. Wilter Yap Palma on Monday ordered that the Philippine flag be flown at half-mast as provincial government officials expressed condolences to the family of the late Governor George Hofer.
Hofer, the founding-father of this province, passed away on Sunday, January 6, due to lingering illness at a hospital in Cebu City. He was 80 years old.
“I was shocked after receiving the sad news on the passing of the former governor,” Palma said as he called on the province’s more than 700 employees to pause for a minute of prayer for the province’s first governor.
Palma said the provincial capitol is open for the wake and necrological service of Hofer before he will be laid to final rest on January 14 at the George T. Hofer Park in Barangay Bangko, Titay, this province.
Hofer is considered as the “founding father” of this province since it was during his incumbency as then Zamboanga del Sur third district representative in 1998 when he authored a bill seeking the separation of his district from the province to create Zamboanga Sibugay.
On February 24, 2001, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 8973 that separated the 16 municipalities and created into a new province named after the Zamboanga Sibuguey River.
Hofer served for three consecutive terms in office after being elected as Zamboanga Sibugay’s first governor in 2001. He also served for two terms as mayor of Titay municipality from 1992 to 1998. He retired from politics in 2010.
The remains of the former governor lie in state at Cosmopolitan Nivel Hills, Lahug, Cebu and will be flown to this province on January 10.
