Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairperson Danilo Lim has passed away at age 65, Malacañang said Wednesday, January 6.

“The Palace expresses its deep condolences to the family, loved ones and colleagues of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Danilo Lim who died before 8AM this morning at the age of 65,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

Roque did not disclose the reason behind Lim’s death.

“MMDA Chair Lim served the Duterte Administration with professionalism, competence and integrity. He would be dearly missed. May the perpetual light shine upon him, and may his soul, through the mercy of the Almighty, rest in eternal peace,” the Palace official added.

Prior to his passing, Lim tested positive for COVID-19 on December 29. 

He was a retired military brigadier general who led the failed coup d’etat against former President Corazon Aquino in 1989. He was detained for two years until he was granted amnesty by Aquino’s successor, Fidel V. Ramos.

He was also accused in 2006 of plotting the ouster of ex-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He, along other Magdalo soldiers including Antonio Trillanes IV — then a Navy lieutenant who was later elected senator — were involved in the 2007 Manila Peninsula seige. This was the infamous incident where rebel troops stormed out of a court hearing and holed up in The Peninsula Manila hotel to call for Arroyo’s resignation. Lim was detained from 2006 to 2010 on charges of rebellion and attempted coup d’ etat.

Before his appointment at the MMDA in 2017, he was named by former President Benigno Aquino III as the Bureau of Customs Deputy Commissioner. He resigned in July 2013 due to alleged corruption in the bureau.

In 2019, Lim lost when he ran for a seat in the Senate.

(Source: Inquirer)