Pinili, Ilocos Norte—Army Colonel Samuel S. Pagdilao (ret.), mayor of this northern town for 18 years, died Saturday, at the Batac hospital where he was rushed due to difficulty of breathing where he succumbed due to heart failure. He was 89.
Pagdilao, a public school teacher for 14 years and a soldier for another 18 years until he retired with the rank of full colonel, served his birth town as chief executive officer for a total 18 years from 1992 to 2001 and then again from 2010 to 2019, the last year before the town, where warriors walked during the Philippine-American War and the Second World War, celebrated its centennial anniversary.
He left his wife, with his wife, ex-Mayor Anunciacion D. Pagdilao, their seven children, including retired Police Major Gen. Samuel Pagdilao Jr. who served in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2016, 20 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Five of the children are in the United States (four in Texas and one in New York). Pagdilao Jr. and his brother, retired Major. Gen. Joel Pagdilao, are the only ones in the Philippines.
Pagdilao Jr., speaking on behalf of his siblings, remembered their father, who was at the municipal hall as early as 7 a.m. when he was mayor, for his “services to God, country, the people and family,” noting his being their patriarch for 66 years.
The children, living in different places, are in a Zoom meeting Saturday following the shock announcement.
No funeral details are immediately available.