UST ALUMNUS and Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Chairman Dante Jimenez died on the evening of Jan. 29 at 68 years old due to aortic aneurysm.
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) President Arsenio Evangelista confirmed Jimenez’s death in a Facebook post on Jan. 30.
“We ask for your prayers for the eternal repose of a man who devoted his life to the crusade against crime and corruption and for good governance. We will miss him so dearly,” the statement read.
The late PACC chairman obtained his degree in journalism from the University in 1974.
In 1988, Jimenez founded VACC, an advocacy group that aims to improve the country’s criminal justice system.
He was appointed PACC chairman by President Rodrigo Duterte in January 2018.
Jimenez was later named co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs in February 2020 after Vice President Leni Robredo was removed from the position. During his stint, he called for the revival of the death penalty for drug offenders.
He was also a former president of the Philippine Association of Maritime Institutions.
Jimenez’s colleague, lawyer Manuelito de los Reyes Luna, said the anti-corruption chief’s death was “a big loss to the fight against criminality and corruption.”
“The late Dante Lazaro Jimenez was a selfless man, a rare gem. He was so passionate about getting justice for victims of crimes and corruption. I had the privilege of working with him as counsel of the VACC and later as [his] colleague in the PACC,” Luna told the Varsitarian.
Luna and Jimenez fought and won against former president Benigno Aquino III over the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) fund in 2018. Aquino was indicted for usurpation of legislative powers over DAP.
On Feb. 4, Naval Forces Southern Luzon gave funeral honors to Jimenez at the Sto. Niño Memorial Cemetery in Naga City. C.R.C. Magpali and C.J. Paras
