Former Quezon City vice mayor Rosario ‘Charito’ L Planas passed away Wednesday morning. She was 87.
“It is with a heavy heart that in behalf of the people of Quezon City, I announce the passing of our dear former vice mayor, Charito Planas,” Mayor Herbert M Bautista said in a statement yesterday.
“Vice Mayor Planas was our loving mentor, tita, leader and friend. Vice Mayor Planas only had the best interest of the city and nation in mind in all her endeavors as a city official and freedom fighter during the dark days of our nation’s history,” said Bautista.
Planas’s last public appearance was during Mayor Bautista’s 8th State of the City Address in October.
A necrological service will be held in the honor of the former vice mayor on today at 9am at the Carlos Albert Hall, Quezon City Hall.
Planas was born April 28, 1931 in Tondo, Manila.
Her sister, Carmen Planas, was the first woman city councilor of Manila.
Planas was a staunch opposition leader and led the campaign against the ratification of the 1973 Constitution.
She was among the opposition leaders arrested after the declaration of Martial Law in 1972.
Planas was drafted in the Lakas ng Bayan slate led by former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr in the 1978 interim Batasan elections.
She slipped out of the country after the elections to join the anti-Marcos forces in the US.
She returned to the country after the 1986 People Power revolution and helped revive the Liberal Party.
She ran for Mayor in the 1988 elections and lost to then incumbent officer-in-charge, Brigido ‘Jun’ Simon Jr.
In the 1992 elections, Planas became the running mate of then congressman Ismael Mathay Jr, who won the mayoral race.
Planas served as Quezon City vice mayor from 1992 to 1995.
She served as then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s spokesperson with the rank of undersecretary at the Office of the President in 2010-2011.