By Bernard Ver
Contributor
LAOAG CITY – Ilocos Norte Board Member Mariano "Nonong" V. Marcos II, who was running for vice governor in the May 2019 midterm elections, passed away at the age of 62 after a cardiac arrest on the evening of February 15, 2019.
Mr. Marcos was supposed to board a Manila-bound aircraft at the Laoag International Airport when he was found lying on the restroom floor. The door was reportedly locked and was only opened after 15 to 20 minutes.
He was rushed to the Laoag City General Hospital’s emergency room but was declared dead at 9:42 p.m.
Meanwhile, his cousins Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Eugenio Angelo M. Barba and Laoag City councilor Michael M. Keon took him his remains from the hospital and brought it to a funeral chapel here.
The day before his death, he was in Vintar, Ilocos Norte for the provincial government’s Capitol Express. In his speech, he said that he had set a date with his wife Cecilia Araneta and their children on the 16th of February in Manila.
"Parang panaginip...kausap ko lang s’ya kagabi,” Mr. Barba said,
Mr. Marcos was a businessperson and served three terms as Sangguniang Panlalawigan member from 2004-2013. He was on his new first term as SP member. He was the son of Pacifico Marcos, younger brother of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos.
He is survived by his wife Cecilia Araneta and their three children.
Half-mast
Meanwhile, the Ilocos Norte Provincial Capitol flew the Philippine flag at half-mast on the morning of February 18, 2019 in honor of the fallen SP member.
The Marcos family also announced that his remains lie at the Marcos mansion in Batac City until February 19, 2019 before being brought to Manila for interment.
Sources said Mr. Marcos was supposed to board a plane with his nephew, senior SP member Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc, his running mate in the midterm elections on the night he died.