Friends, relatives and colleagues bid a tearful farewell to former Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin as she was laid to rest in Taguig City on Sunday morning.

Radio dzBB’s Lito Laparan reported that many had gone to the Heritage Park to get a last glimpse of the late Cabinet member before she was buried.

“You will always be remembered, forever missed, forever loved,” read a message from her friends, relatives and colleagues at the burial.

The report said Boncodin’s mother became emotional while viewing her daughter’s remains for the last time.

Among those at the mass were Boncodin’s fellow members of the Hyatt 10, a group of Cabinet members who withdrew support for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005 in the wake of charges that she had cheated her way to power.

Boncodin died at 55 at a government hospital in Quezon City last March 15. She had a prolonged battle with a kidney ailment. — GMANews.TV