Ex-Pasay mayor passes away

MANILA, Philippines - Former Pasay City mayor Wenceslao “Peewee” Trinidad died yesterday afternoon. He was 82.

According to former Pasay City administrator Tina Carvajal, Trinidad succumbed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Carvajal said Trinidad was rushed last Saturday to the Asian Hospital and Medical Center, where he died at 1:30 p.m.

Trinidad’s wake will be held at his Pasay City residence on Park Avenue today until Sunday.

On Sunday, his remains will be transferred to the Cuneta Astrodome to allow residents to pay their respects.

The former mayor will be laid to rest at the Loyola Memorial Park in Parañaque on Tuesday.

Trinidad was mayor from 2000 to 2010.

He last ran for the same post in 2013, but lost by a large margin to incumbent Mayor Antonio Calixto.

In November 2015, the Sandiganbayan found him guilty, along with former Pasay congressman Jose Antonio Roxas, of graft over the alleged anomalous awarding of a P489.95-million contract for the construction of a shopping center in 2004.

Trinidad and Roxas were sentenced to at least 10 years in jail and the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office. 

The former mayor appealed his conviction.