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BY TIFFANY ANNE TAN
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BACOLOD City – An officer-in-charge is taking over the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) – Negros Island Region.
The regional director, Margie Biligan, was found dead in a condominium unit in Valenzuela City around 1 a.m. on Monday.
Citing the police, an official at the Interior department’s central office said the 43-year-old died of cardiac arrest.
Anthony Nuyda, director of DILG Region 6, will supervise the Negros regional office in concurrent capacity.
“Ako iyong pinakamalapit, at saka medyo familiar ako kasi dati namang coverage ko ang Negros Occidental,” Nuyda told Panay News.
Negros Occidental used to be under Region 6, or Western Visayas, before Executive Order No. 183 series of 2015 placed it under a one-island region along with Negros Oriental, then under Central Visayas (Region 7).
Nuyda said he will meet with the DILG-Negros’ staff and discuss matters that needed immediate action from the late Biligan.
Specifically, they will talk about “ongoing programs,” he said.
“Ganoon muna po. Wala muna akong (other) orders,” said Nuyda. “Tingnan ko na lang muna kung ano iyong mga naka-line up na activities and schedules, and I will adjust my schedule accordingly.”
Biligan, a native of Ilocos Sur, was believed to have been dead for about 48 hours before her body was found, said Marlo Guanzon, DILG’s Public Affairs and Communications Service director.
Based on a Max’s Restaurant receipt found in her wallet, Biligan may have been last seen alive around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, Guanzon said.
Biligan was supposed to attend a seminar on Sunday but failed to show up. Her colleagues were unable to contact with her. They reached her relatives in Ilocos Sur, but the latter told them she was in her office here.
With the help of police officers and firefighters, her colleagues forcibly entered her unit at the fifth floor of the Valenzuela Towers B and found Biligan lifeless on her bed.
“I could not believe it. Her body was already decomposing,” Guanzon said. “Looking back to that time makes me sad.”
Guanzon said the Scene of the Crime Operatives told them Biligan died of cardiac arrest.
According to the police, there were no signs of forced entry or theft in the condominium unit, and Biligan had no injuries; none of her personal belongings were missing either.
Negros Occidental governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said Biligan’s passing was a “big loss” to the region and the DILG.
“Efficient, dedicated, knowledgeable of her job, and very hardworking,” he said of the late official. “Good persons die young.”
Biligan was appointed director of the DILG-Negros when the regional office was activated on Dec. 12, 2015. Before that, she was an assistant regional director at the DILG Region 6./PN
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