OMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) 7 Director Rene Buac died of cardiac arrest due to a stroke at around 1 a.m. last Tuesday while confined at the Perpetual Succour Hospital.
Assistant Regional Director Veronico Petalcorin said Buac, 54, was rushed to the hospital last Aug. 23 when he felt dizzy and went into a coma because of blood clots in his brain.
Buac suffered a heart attack last year and underwent a heart bypass surgery at the same hospital.
Petalcorin said Buac’s colleagues at the Comelec expressed surprise over his death because the late director had no vices.
Buac is survived by four children. His family resides in Banawa, Cebu City.
Buac’s remains will be brought today from St. Peter Funeral Homes on Imus Road, Cebu City to Siquijor, his home province.
Buac was caught in the media glare during the counting of the hotly-contested congressional seat of the fourth district of Cebu between former Bogo City mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez III and Rep. Benhur Salimbangon.
Buac, though, did not yield to pressure from both parties.
Petalcorin, being the assistant regional director, automatically became the acting Comelec 7 director.
Director James Jimenez of the Comelec in Manila said the Comelec en banc will soon decide whether Petalcorin will be appointed to replace Buac or will appoint another person as director.
Petalcorin, a Boholano, joined Comelec in 2004 as an election officer in Loon, Bohol.
He became the provincial election supervisor of Bohol in 2005, and assistant regional director in 2007.
