Share this
Twitter
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Yahoo
Googlize this
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
Many were shocked by the sudden death of Press Secretary Cerge Remonde. He died due to heart attack and was pronounced dead at 11:51 am, yesterday, January 19, 2010 at the Makati Medical Center.
Remonde, 51, died at the height of his political career as the mouthpiece of Malacanang and President Gloria Macagapal-Arroyo.
News that he was found unconscious at his home in Bel-Air Village, Makati yesterday morning instantly circulated in social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
It was another Malacanang spokesman, Gary Olivar, who confirmed Remonde’s passing.
Once a journalist
Before he became a permanent fixture at the Palace, Remonde was a broadcast journalist.
Born in Argao, Cebu and educated at the University of the Visayas, Remonde spent his early days as a member of the Philippine media as a stringer for the government-run Philippine News Agency (PNA) and an anchor for DYLA Interaction radio commentary program.
He is best known in the media circle as the six-term National Chairman of the Kapisansan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas (KBP). Remonde was said to be the first to come from the ranks of the provincial media to become KBP chair. In May 2009, he was elevated to KBP’s Hall of Fame. Among his accomplishments with the group was the training of KBP’s provincial chapter officers.
He also became Chairman of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, the Advertising Board of the Philppines, and the Appeals Board of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). He was a former Commissioner of the Communications Committee of the UNESCO.
He also held important positions in the field of media. He became executive director of the Radio-Television Malacañang Presidential Broadcast Staff, President of government-run networks IBC-13 and RPN-9 and secretary of the Government Mass Media Group (GMMG), according to pinoyvote.com.
Proud mouthpiece
Three days after President Arroyo assumed office in January 20, 2001, Remonde was appointed undersecretary of the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) in charge of broadcast. Since then, he had worked closely with the woman he always called ‘Madame’. As one of the long-time servants of the incumbent administration, it was common knowledge for Malacanang insiders and critics that Remonde was among Arroyo’s favorites.
The blog Filipino Profiles posted, “after his appointment in the Arroyo government, Remonde totally lost touch with his vocation as a journalist and what his colleagues in the profession expects of him.” It added, “his former colleagues are now annoyed and furious at Remonde’s sudden change of heart and how he rapidly degenerated into a sick joke.”
Remonde had a brief stint as the government’s anti-poverty czar when he was delegated as lead convenor National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) in October 2006, taking over the post from Datu Zamzamin Ampatuan. In 2007 to 2008, he was the Director-General of the Presidential Management Staff. He was also a Senior Advisor of the government panel in the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF).
On February 1, 2009, he was appointed Press Secretary. His official job description required him to answer questions about Mrs. Arroyo and her administration. By then, he was considered a veteran in the field.
For political observers and the socially-aware, Remonde is one unforgettable character. For the mainstream media, his soundbytes and quotable quotes in defense of Arroyo were always news worthy.
Last year, he regarded the US$1 million dinner of Arroyo and her party at the Le Cirque restaurant in New York as a simple dinner and that the reports were ‘grossly exaggerated.’ As a reaction, blogger Manuel Buencamino lampooned Remonde.
He was not the one-liner type but his answers and statements were always topics of discussions and parodies in social netwoks and blogs.
In a recent post, reacting to Remonde’s statements on the Maguindanao Massacre, Pedestrian Observer said, “the sight of Cerge Remonde in itself is revolting, no not because of his heavy accent but because of his role and blind loyalty in defending a morally bankrupt and corrupt to plunderers heights administration. Perhaps, the problem is in their arrogance and having done away and getting away with accountability for so long that he fails to see how people derided them and for him to feel hurt at how he was pelted with trash during the indignation rally in demanding for justice for the slain journalist is really perplexing. Cerge Remonde and his cohorts should consider themselves lucky that Filipinos are still a patient and gentle people but their luck may soon run short as they continuously fool and insult peoples’ intelligence and may just find themselves dangling in a lamppost with a rope around their neck.”
Last November 30, in a rally of media organizations led by the National Press Club (NPC) in Mendiola denouncing the massacre, Remonde was booed and pelted with crumpled paper by the crowd.
In his blog, Renato Reyes of militant group Bayan recounted the happening - “Sensing tension among the audience, Ka Satur, Liza and myself, along with some NPC (National Press Club) officials, came up to meet Sec. Remonde hoping to figure out a way to diffuse the tense situation that was unfolding. Unfortunately, before we could get going, he went up the stage, na wala sa usapan, and that aggravated the tension among the audience. What happened next was the uncontrollable, pent-up outrage of the people.
During the rally, Remonde was only able to say, "We are one with you in denouncing the massacre. Basta po nakikiisa kami sa inyo."
Reyes added, “in hindsight the incident could have been avoided if Sec. Remonde heeded the warning of the NPC and just received the letter in Malacanang.” He said Remonde ‘obviously underestimated the people’s justified outrage over Arroyo’s policies.”
The late Secretary’s last statement was a reaction to the Ampatuan family’s lawyer, Atty. Philip Pantojan who said that the Arroyo administration turned its back on the Ampatuans despite the benefits it had received from the clan. He said, “It’s a good thing that they’re being dropped like a hot potato and that a neutron bomb wasn’t dropped on them after what some members of the family have been accused of doing.” It landed on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The last activity he attended with Arroyo was the Sinulog Festival in Cebu last weekend. There he had a chance to return to his roots – his home province and broadcasting. Sunstar.com.ph posted, “Remonde has again made a blow-by-blow account, through his home radio station in Cebu, about the Saturday dawn fluvial parade featuring the statue of Cebu’s patron saint Sto. Niño.” It was his devotion.
Rest In Peace
There are two common reactions to Remonde’s sudden death – first is sympathy, second is anger – not at Remonde now that he is dead, but towards the administration and the president that he devotedly worked for.
In its message of condolences, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said, “The NUJP may have differed with Cerge on many issues including government’s response and action, or lack of the same, on the unabated killings of journalists in the country. But he remained a friend and did not fail to express his solidarity with the Philippine press.”
The KBP said, “His death is not only a big loss to the broadcast industry but to the country whom he has really served with utmost dedication. The KBP leadership and its members will definitely miss him."
Even in his death, Remonde is hot news.
Inquirer.net reported that the Remonde ‘bid goodbye’ on Facebook. “Call it a premonition, but Press Secretary Cerge Remonde has made peace with the Lord the night before his death.”
His status message on the site social networking site reads as – “Thank you Lord for your infinite love that meets our every need and provides all the beautiful and wonderful things we experience in life. Fill us with your peace as we learn to fully trust in your providence. Help us to do all that we are capable and the rest, we entrust unto you.”
In Twitter, a message for him reads - RIP Cerge Remonde. You had the worst job in the world; now take your place in the sun.
Photo from Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
