Former Antique congressman, governor and ambassador to Brunei Enrique Ang Zaldivar died Friday at the Makati Medical Center after a long battle with cancer of the lymph nodes. He was 74.

Zaldivar was elected congressman for the lone district of Antique before Martial Law was declared. He later assumed the governorship in 1980 taking over from the late Evelio Javier who went to Harvard for postgraduate studies.

He was appointed OIC governor of Antique after the 1986 People Power Revolution.

A stalwart of the Liberal Party, Zaldivar served as one of the high-ranking members of the party.

When President Joseph Estrada won the presidency in 1998, Zaldivar was appointed Ambassador
to Brunei, a post he held for four years.

Zaldivar is the son of the late Justice Calixto Zaldivar and Elena Ang. Justice Zaldivar himself served in the Philippine Assembly, and later also as governor of Antique before he was appointed to the Supreme Court.

He is survived by his wife Erlinda Gotico; children Calixto III, Enrique Jr., and Pressy; grandaughter Rica and his siblings Lorna, Nona, Calixto Jr., and incumbent Antique Governor Sally Zaldivar-Perez.

His remains lie in state at the Philippine Independent Church, Taft Avenue. Interment will be on Wednesday, August 26 at the Manila Memorial Park after the 9:00 a.m. mass.