San Fernando, Pampanga—Even in death, Liberato “Levy” P. Laus or LPL, chairman of the Laus Group of Companies thought of the welfare of the city where he grew up and made his fortune until his untimely demise last Friday.
Laus, 68, together with his longtime pilot Eber Coronel and driver Wilfran Estaban, died when his $3.9 million Airbus helicopter with registry No RP C8098 crashed in a fishpond in Malolos City, Bulacan on their way to San Fernando, Pampanga.
Laus’ last project for the city was the dredging of the Federosa creek in barangay San Matias, Sto. Tomas to prevent flooding in the city for the coming rainy season, said Marni Castro, a non-government organization engineer and a very close friend of the tycoon.
Castro said they were supposed to conduct an aerial survey of the creek to collect geophysical data, including aerial photography on how to divert flood water straight to Manila Bay.
However, Castro said the 6.1 earthquake Monday prevented them from doing the survey.
The engineer said he will continue the project not only for the memory of Laus, but also for the city.
Laus and Castro were together in the Save San Fernando Movement, a joint local government, business sector and NGO organization that sped up the early recovery of the city from the ruins of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991.
Laus’ remains now lies in state at the family residence at St. Dominic subdivision in barangay San Agustin, and were transferred to the Laus Event Center Monday before he is laid to rest after a Mass on Tuesday at 2 p.m at Sanctuario De San Fernando Memorial in the same village.
Prominent personalities and leaders of civic, businesses, and government organizations, including the Cabalen Sport and Sunday Club, gave their condolences to the Laus family in their moment of grief.
Re-electionist City Mayor Edwin Santiago said the passing of Laus was a big loss to the city not only in terms of employment but with his vision to make it a sustainable city.
Santiago said the businessman contributed a lot to the city in terms of employment, growth and development and initiative on how to further improve San Fernando.
Earlier, Laus opened a 200-room hotel to accommodate more tourists especially during special occasions and the coming holidays.
Castro said the creek was already dredged of 1,500 dump trucks of mud, sand and other debris in 2016, but it was heavily silted again following floods in the past years.
Floods coming from the northside of San Fernando and Angeles City flow down the creek, causing it to overflow instead of going straight to Manila Bay. This was his last wish to prevent the flooding of the city, Castro added.