Manila: Filipino migrant workers’ rights activist and Representative Roy Seneres, until recently a presidential hopeful, died on Monday from cardiac arrest.
The 68-year-old Seneres’ heart condition had been complicated by his diabetic condition his family said.
“My father suffered a cardiac arrest at around 2am,” Seneres’ son Roy Jr said.
Days before his death Seneres, of the OFW Family Club party-list, had announced that he was withdrawing from the May 9, 2016 elections due to health reasons.
He had been among six candidates running for the presidency.
The fifth bet, Rommel Mendoza of the Pwersa NG Masang Pilipino (Force of the Masses Party) retracted his candidacy last February 1.
A lawyer, Seneres became popular in the late 1990s when he was a labour attaché of the Philippine Embassy in the UAE.
Upon his return to the Philippines, he was appointed by then President Joseph Estrada to the National Labour Relations Commission where he served as chairman from 2000 to 2005.
After serving the government, he continued to be active in labour affairs. He co-hosted a radio programme for OFWS as a block timer.
He ran for election as party-list representative under the OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) Family Club and was elected in 2013.
He played part in recent efforts to overhaul airport rules that are detrimental to OFWs, which include the imposition of unified fees at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the inspection of so-called Balikbayan Boxes by the Bureau of Customs. Another issue he sought to help resolve was that of cases involving the planting of incriminating evidence on OFWs and travellers, or the so called “tanim ball.”
Colleagues mourned the passing of Seneres.
Susan Ople of the Blas Ople Foundation described the demise of Seneres as “a sad day for the OFW sector.”
Seneres’ colleagues in the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr, described his demise as great loss to our overseas Filipino workers’ community.
“He had spent most of his life championing their concerns as well as those of the labour sector,” the head of the House of Representatives said.
The presidential palace expressed sadness over the death of Seneres.
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma junior said the late official promoted workers’ welfare as head of National Labour Relations Commission and when he was appointed as Ambassador to the Middle East.
