Published May 25, 2021, 10:06 PM
DAVAO CITY – Colleagues and fellow peace advocates in Mindanao are now mourning the death of Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) priest Eliseo Mercado Jr., one of the known prime movers of the inter-religious dialogue initiatives and peace movements in the region.
Fellow OMI priest Roberto Layson, based in Pikit, North Cotabato, said he is saddened by the death of Mercado, saying that he looks up the latter as his icon in inter-religious dialogue and peace building advocacies.
Like Mercado, Layson was also among the active key leaders in initiating grassroots peace building advocacies at the height of the conflict in Central Mindanao.
By FRANCHESCA VIERNES, GMA News
Published May 23, 2021 9:30pm Mindanao-based Fr. Eliseo Mercado Jr., government peace panel chairman for the GRP-MILF peace talks, has passed away. He was 73. According to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) of the Philippines, Mercado died on Sunday, 3:25p.m., at the Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC) due to cardiac arrest. “On May 23, his heart stopped due to heart attack,” the OMI statement read. After administering CPR several times, his body “finally gave up and was not responding anymore to any of the medical intervention being given to him.” Mercado was admitted to the CRMC last May 8 and had tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). His RT-PCR test came back negative on May 22.