Bacolod City, Negros Occ. (PNA) – Negrense labor leader Zoilo de la Cruz, known as the “Father of 13th month pay,” passed away last Saturday, Dec. 13.
The 84-year-old former congressman succumbed to kidney failure at the Makati Medical Center, according to his son, Roland de la Cruz, who is Acting Director for Youth of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).
De la Cruz authored bills providing for employees’ 13th month pay (Presidential Decree No. 851), the Social Amelioration Program in the sugar industry, and payment of Cost of Living Allowance (Cola) to workers in the private sector.
He served in Congress from 1993 to 1998.
Known as a human rights advocate and a “true labor leader,” De la Cruz organized the Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. (SIFI) and was one of the founders of the TUCP.
The younger De la Cruz said his father’s remains will be brought home to Negros on Dec. 19 where it will lie in state at the Sugar Workers’ Livelihood Center of the Department of Labor and Employment Provincial Office in Bacolod City.
On Dec. 20, a necrological service will be offered by different labor union organizations at the Sugar Workers’ Livelihood Center at 9 in the morning. On Dec. 21, he will be brought to Barangay Sum-ag in Bacolod for another necrological mass at the compound of former board member Nehemias de la Cruz at 4 p.m.
His remains will be flown back to Manila on Dec. 22 to Manila, where it will be cremated. - Manila Bulletin
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