Cadiz City Councilor Judge Frances Villena Guanzon, sister of former Comelec commissioner and future Senator Rowena “Bing” Guanzon, has resigned from the Sangguniang Panlungsod due to health and personal reasons, ending her council service after a long public record in prosecution, the judiciary, and local legislation.
Guanzon, 72, tendered her resignation on Tuesday, May 26. It will take effect on July 1, 2026. She is serving her second term as councilor of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.
Before joining the city council, Guanzon was appointed assistant city prosecutor of Cadiz City in 1988 and later city prosecutor in 1991. She served in the City Prosecutor’s Office for 19 years, assisted thousands of indigent Cadiznons and victims of crimes, and left the office in 2007 with zero backlog in preliminary investigation cases before becoming executive/presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court of Bago City.
“It is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation as a member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Cadiz City due to health and personal reasons,” she said.
Guanzon thanked Cadiznons for their support, and described her four years in the Sangguniang Panlungsod as “the most fruitful, productive, and rewarding years” of her life.
Rowena Guanzon also honored her sister in a public post, noting that she is a breast cancer survivor and praising her service in law and local government. She said Frances’ excellence in law had benefited Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, and the work of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. had asked Guanzon not to resign, but she assured him she would continue helping Cadiz even without a council seat. Escalante described her as an irreplaceable public servant and a motherly figure to Cadiznons.
The replacement process now moves to the United Negros Alliance, where Guanzon is a member. Escalante, the party’s secretary-general, said UNegA Cadiz will submit its recommended nominee to Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, who will formally appoint the substitute councilor.
For Cadiz, Guanzon’s resignation marks the exit of a public servant whose record spans prosecution, the courts, indigent legal assistance, and the city council.
