Former Iloilo Second District representative Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco passed away. He was 77.
Syjuco died after battling an undisclosed illness.
A report by Bombo Radyo-Iloilo said Syjuco’s body was cremated on Monday, Jan. 13, in Singapore.
In March last year, Syjuco and his wife Judy asked the Sandiganbayan for a plea bargain.
In their motion to plea bargain, the Syjuco’s cited their “frail health.”
“[Augusto] is slowly dying as he is currently suffering from advanced myelodysplastic syndrome,” a part of the motion read.
This, according to the couple’s legal counsel, lawyer Federico Roxas, “could lead to leukemia if left untreated.”
Meanwhile, his wife “recently suffered a stroke that led to her suffering broken bones on her ribcage.”
Judy was also a former repreresentive of the province’s Second District.
In August 2019, the Sandiganbayan, following their guilty pleas, convicted the Syjuco couple of fraud in relation to a P4.3-million cash grant. The two were ordered to pay P17,000 each.
Augusto served as representative of the Second District from 1998 to 2004.
He also became the director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) during the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2004-2010).IMT