Former Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Dinky Soliman passed away this Sunday at the age of 68, Vice President Leni Robredo said.
Robredo announced Soliman’s death on his radio program.
“May napakalungkot na balita tayo natanggap ngayon lang na si former [Department of Social Welfare and Development] Dinky Soliman, namayapa na ngayong umaga,” said Robredo.
Robredo did not mention the cause of death.
In an opinion piece on Rappler by her husband Hector Soliman on September 5, he said the former Secretary was ill and was also hit by COVID-19 last August.
Robredo described Soliman as a “very good person” who devoted her entire life to “serving the poor.”
The vice president also shared how Soliman sympathized with her when her husband, former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo passed away.
“Noong namatay ‘yong asawa ko, hindi kami magkakilala pero siya ‘yong pumunta sa Naga para samahan kami ng mga bata habang hinahanap pa ‘yong katawan ng asawa ko,” said Robredo.
Former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman dies at 68
In the aftermath of the 2001 EDSA revolution, Soliman was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was formerly Vice President, as the Department of Social Welfare and Development secretary for her new cabinet, Soliman held the position for four years but later resigned in 2005 in protest of the Hello Garci scandal, following allegations that Arroyo had cheated in the 2004 Philippine presidential election.
She was once again appointed in the same position and served again as the social welfare head under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III during his whole six-year term as president. During her tenure as the social welfare secretary under the Aquino administration, she bolstered the implementation of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and also chaired Aquino’s cabinet group on Human Development and Poverty Reduction.
On June 28, 2012, Dinky Soliman initiated anti-poverty programs and inaugurated the construction of a new daycare center and a concrete road for the residents of Donsol, Sorsogon. On November 14, 2012, Soliman held charitable activities including a Family Camp for families living in the streets in Metro Manila.
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