Obit

Dennis M. Sabangan, 41

VETERAN PHOTOJOURNALIST and UP lecturer Dennis M. Sabangan died of a heart attack Monday morning, June 29. He was 41.

Sabangan was driving along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City to meet a friend in Makati when he had a heart attack. He was rushed to Quirino Memorial Medical Center but was declared dead on arrival at 10:35 a.m. (“Sabangan, ex-PDI photographer, dies at 41,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 30, 2015)

According to Prof. Danilo Arao, his colleague at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication where he had been teaching photojournalism since November 2009, Sabangan developed his journalistic skills at the Philippine Collegian, the university’s official student publication. He was a BA Philippine Studies student then.

“Dennis was able to effectively practice and teach the profession at the same time,” Arao said. “I would like to think that he was proud of his role as a journalism educator and this would explain why he was highly admired by our journalism students.”

While teaching part-time in UP, Sabangan was also the chief photographer for the Manila bureau of the Frankfurt-based European Pressphoto Agency (EPA), which he joined in 2003. He also worked for various newspapers such as Today, The Manila Times, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He was also a stringer for Getty Images, Reflex News, KCS Presse, and SIPA Press. (“Veteran photojournalist Dennis Sabangan dies at 41,” CNN Philippines, June 30, 2015)

Upon news of his death, family, friends, colleagues, and his students filled his Facebook page with tributes and messages. Many remembered Sabangan for his cheerfulness and humor.

“He’s the kind of guy who always looks delighted to see you, always cracking jokes, always smiling, always laughing,” said Pam Pastor, editor of the Super section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, in her message on Sabangan’s Facebook timeline.

Meanwhile, journalist and TV5’s Aksyon Tonite anchor Ed Lingao remembered Sabangan for his humanity—a person who was “as human as the rest of us, whose “failings and weaknesses were, like ours, there for all to see.”

“He doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve kasi, [he] doesn’t emote and doesn’t seem to have the patience for people who do. He just laughs and laughs. But when he takes that photo, his photographer’s eye does the talking, and that is when you see how deeply he feels for his subjects. Then you realize that there is something lurking behind that laughter,” Lingao said.

Sabangan is survived by his mother, Crescencia, siblings Evelyn Sabangan-Dino, Leo, Maria Antonia, and children Amiel, Keith Aidel, Denise Sofia, and Deeshan.

Peter Storah, 79

SURROUNDED by family members, British journalist Peter Storah died Saturday, June 20, after suffering a short illness. He was 79.

Storah began his journalistic career in his hometown’s newspaper, the Todmorden Advertiser. He later joined the Lancashire Telegraph in the early 1960s and was also a member of the now-defunct Burnley Evening Star newspaper’s launch team in 1965. In the 1980s, he became a sub-editor on the Daily Star before moving on to the Daily Sport. He also wrote a humorous weekly column titled “Storah Says.” (“Highly-respected journalist dies, aged 79, after short illness,” Lancashire Telegraph, June 26, 2015)

The deputy editor of the Telegraph described Storah as one of the best in the paper. “Around the Burnley area, Peter was ‘Mr. Evening Star’ and he cultivated an army of contacts from all walks of life. He was one of the finest writers ever at the Lancashire Telegraph.” (“Journalist hailed as one of the daily’s ‘finest ever writers’ dies aged 79,” HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk, June 30, 2015)

Storah was also an accomplished pianist.

Storah is survived by his wife Joan, his children Caroline, who is also a journalist, and Christopher, a solicitor; as well as grandchildren Thomas, Lucy, Oliver, and Abigail.