BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Bacolod City officials mourn the passing away of former two-time independent councilor and anti-corruption crusader Lyndon Caña at a private hospital in Bacolod City Thursday evening.
Caña, 56, was admitted to the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center in Bacolod City after having contracted the COVID-19 virus but had reportedly recovered from it when he died.
Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said he was informed that Caña had traveled to Negros Oriental and was not aware that one of his companions in the same vehicle he was riding was infected with the virus. He was unvaccinated.
Familiaran said he and Caña are members of the Gideons International which gives out Bibles in schools, hotels, hospitals, and jails. They belong to the same protestant church.
Councilor Archie Baribar said Caña was his former student and was basically a good person. They were later together in the City Council from 2001 to 2004 and that he was one of those acknowledged by Caña as his mentor in the Council.
Baribar recalled that Caña was the hardest working councilor who served Bacolod City and was even elected one of the Top 10 Outstanding Councilors of the Philippine for 2006.
Both Baribar and Familiaran expressed their condolences to the family of Caña.
Caña was also a civic and religious leader. He was a Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Partylist nominee, and was former host of a radio program “Intercessor’s Hour” over 1233 DYVS in 2018.
As former city councilor, Caña authored the controversial “takeover ordinance” for the city to take over the operation of the Bacolod Port at the Reclamation Area from the management of the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. (BREDCO).
During his stint as councilor of Bacolod, he posted the highest number of ordinances and resolutions authored and passed and had perfect attendance in his first term.
A practicing lawyer since 1990, he used to teach in the College of Law of the University of St. La Salle (USLS)-Bacolod.
Caña was also a Negros Regional Board member of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT), the Share An Opportunity (SAO)-Philippines, Kalipay Negrense Foundation, Christian Foundation for Persons with Disabilities (CFPD), and Negros Island House of Prayer (NIHOP).
He was the third of the six children of former Regional Trial Court Judge Abraham Caña and Raquel Pizana-Caña and is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Aguirre de Leon of La Carlota City, Negros Occidental.*
