Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The election season is heating up, literally, after one former vice mayor who was running for councilor collapsed and died in Laurel, Batangas on Monday (April 23) — reportedly because of the scorching temperature and fatigue.
Police said 53-year-old Florencio Villanueva was in the middle of a miting de avance in Sitio Kulit, Barangay San Gregorio around 9 p.m. when he passed out.
Prior to this, his party-mates had noticed that he was not feeling well.
He was rushed to Laurel Municipal Hospital but doctors pronounced him dead on arrival at 10 p.m.
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Based on the doctor’s report, Villanueva died of cardiac arrest. He was running under Team Natanauan under the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
Villanueva’s mother, Teodora, said his son had a history of two mild strokes.
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The dry spell, coupled by an ongoing El Niño, had been taking its toll on various provinces in the country, including Batangas.
Batangas City-based correspondent Ron Lozano contributed to this report.
