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CEBU CITY, Philippines - Thousands of Cebuanos were on hand to bid farewell to Cebu City's second longest serving mayor, Eulogio ?Yoyong? Borres, whose remains were laid to rest at the Queen City Gardens on Sunday.
In shades of black and white, Cebu City residents, public officials and family members attended the funeral with a lot of them offering white orchids to the grave.
Government-owned and other private buses fetched the people, mostly from Barangay (village) Pasil and brought them to the San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish where a requiem mass was held and to the memorial garden and back.
Pasil residents in particular went to the Queen City Gardens to pay their final respects to Borres, the ?Pasil Boy? who became a mayor of Cebu City.
At noon, hundreds of people waited for the casket to arrive at the San Nicolas Parish.
A man who requested anonymity professed his admiration for the late mayor Borres whom he called ?Noy Yoyong,? a nickname he was known for in the Pasil area.
A fish vendor, he went to the church and waited like the others for the casket to arrive.
He became teary-eyed like most of those who remembered the late mayor well when he saw the casket arrive.
The church was filled with friends, relatives, neighbors, and politicians.
Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama and Cebu City North District Representative Raul Del Mar were among the officials who paid tribute to Borres.
Monsignor Cristobal Garcia celebrated the mass and described Borres as a down-to-earth mayor of the city.
?Dili garboso and iyang pagkatawo, mapa-ubsanon, maluloy-on, og siya maningkamot pag-ayo para mu-uswag ang Sugbu. Siya ang unang nagpa higmata sa ako sa mga butang dinhi sa syudad (He was not ostentatious, he was humble, compassionate and he worked hard to develop Cebu. He was the one who made me aware about the things happening in the city),? Garcia said.
He said he was 14-years old when Borres became the mayor of Cebu City and he recalled that he was the first mayor whom he first knew in person.
?Lisud kaayo hikalimtan ang iyang (It was hard to forget his) irresistible smile,? Garcia said in his homily as relatives started crying.
The former mayor?s grandchildren wept as the family gathered around the coffin for a last look at his remains.
Borres? grave was covered with a Philippine flag as is the custom for government officials.
