Pablo Cuneta

Cuneta was born on February 2, 1910, in Pasay (then a municipality of Rizal) to Catalino Cuneta y García (c. 1871 – c. 1948) and Miguela Pablo y de la Cruz (c. 1873 – October 15, 1948).[1]

He was first married to Generosa Francisco until her death in 1992. They had ten children: Edgardo, Reynaldo, Leonides, Rosauro, Leticia, Jaime, Carmencita, Pablo Jr., Generoso, and Aida.

After Generosa’s death, he married Elinor "Elaine" Gamboa in 1993 until his death in 2000 and married for 37 years.[2] Together, they had two children: César "Chet" and Sharon.

Cuneta started his political career when he served as deputy governor of Rizal from 1947 to 1949. In 1951, he was appointed Pasay mayor. 5 years later, he ran for mayor and won. He ran again and won, in the 1959 and 1963 elections. In 1967, he was defeated by Jovito Claudio. He bounced back in the 1971 National Elections and was re-elected again in 1980. He stepped down when the Aquino government was swept into power in 1986. 2 years later, he again won in the local elections. He would top the local elections again in 1992 and 1995. At the end of his term in 1998, he had been Pasay mayor for 41 years, the longest-serving mayor in Philippine history. He is the only mayor to have served under 7 different Presidents: Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos.

Cuneta was in good health until December 1996 when he started suffering from rheumatism and arthritis. In 1997, he suffered a mild seizure and was confined at the Makati Medical Center and died due to cardiac arrest on September 27, 2000, at the age of 90. He was the longest-serving mayor in Philippine history.[3] He was buried at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque.

Cuneta's administration is credited for the construction of the Maricaban Settlement, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay (now City University of Pasay), Pasay City General Hospital and the Cuneta Astrodome, among other projects.