Vivant Corporation CEO Dennis Garcia dies of coronavirus

Ryan Macasero

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Vivant Corporation CEO Dennis Garcia dies of coronavirus
Vivant Corporation says Dennis Garcia, 70, died on the same day that his coronavirus test results were released

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Vivant Corporation chief executive officer Dennis Garcia died of complications due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on Saturday, March 28. He was 70 years old.

His death was confirmed by the company in a statement on Monday, March 30.

“He was hospitalized at Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital on Wednesday, 25th [of] March, where he was tested for COVID-19. Positive confirmation of COVID-19 was on Saturday, 28th [of] March, on the same day that he died. His time of death was 6:38 pm,” Vivant said.

The company also said Garcia had “prior respiratory health issues, specifically emphysema,” before he contracted the coronavirus.

He was cremated on Sunday, March 29.

A representative of Vivant told Rappler in a text message that Garcia’s last travel outside of Cebu was to Metro Manila on January 24. He returned on January 27.

“Vivant is working with the Cebu City government to track his movements in the two weeks prior to his hospitalization in order to identify people he was in close contact with for monitoring, quarantine, and possible testing,” the company said.

“We will also make this information available to any other affected LGUs (local government units) or national agencies.”

Vivant is a publicly listed company based in Cebu. It is involved in renewable and non-renewable energy.

Vivant owns 34.81% of the Visayan Electric Company, the country’s second largest power distributor after the Manila Electric Company.

Garcia’s death was also disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. He had served as Vivant’s CEO since 2003. His successor has not yet been named.

There are at least 18 coronavirus cases in Cebu City, so far.

Cebu City and Cebu province are currently under “enhanced community quarantine” or lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. – Rappler.com

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Nobuhiko Matsunaka

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Ryan Macasero

Ryan covers social welfare for Rappler. He started at Rappler as social media producer in 2013, and later took on various roles for the company: editor for the #BalikBayan section, correspondent in Cebu, and general assignments reporter in the Visayas region. He graduated from California State University, East Bay, with a degree in international studies and a minor in political science. Outside of work, Ryan performs spoken word poetry and loves attending local music gigs. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmacasero or drop him leads for stories at ryan.macasero@rappler.com