President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. paid his final respects to former Prime Minister Cesar E.A. Virata, who died last week at the age of 95.

Mr. Marcos visited Mr. Virata's wake at Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City on Wednesday, recalling the former prime minister's long service to the country and his work alongside the President's father, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.

"I paid my final respects to former Prime Minister Cesar Virata, a man who devoted many years of his life to our country and worked alongside my father in public service," Mr. Marcos said, according to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

The President also remembered Mr. Virata for his "quiet dignity, discipline and sense of duty," saying these qualities defined his life in government.

Mr. Virata served as finance minister from 1970 to 1986 and as prime minister from 1981 to 1986. The PCO said he was known for his contributions to economic management, national finance, economic planning and development programs.

Born Cesar Emilio Aguinaldo Virata, the late statesman was a grandnephew of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the Philippines. Widely regarded as one of the leading technocrats of the Marcos era, he studied at the University of the Philippines and earned a master's degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His tenure at the Department of Finance spanned 16 years, making him one of the longest-serving finance chiefs in Philippine history.

He assumed the premiership after the office was restored in 1981 under amendments to the 1973 Constitution and was the last person to hold the post, which was abolished following the 1986 People Power Revolution. Because the restored office existed only from 1981 until its abolition in 1986, he was its first and only holder — and the Philippines has had no prime minister since.

— Erika Mae P. Sinaking, BusinessWorld

Source: BusinessWorld Online