Obit

Photo from Rogelio Bagabuyo’s Facebook account.

Rogelio Bagabuyo, 75

MINDANAO-BASED COLUMNIST and lawyer Rogelio Bagabuyo died of kidney failure Thursday, June 16. He was 75.

Bagabuyo was a columnist for the Gold Star Daily. His columns, which appeared on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, were usually on his advocacy for a shift to a federal form of government. Bagabuyo also hosted a talk show at a local TV station in Cagayan de Oro.  He also served as a former director of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC).

As a lawyer, Bagabuyo served as a senior special state prosecutor at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Friends and colleagues mourned the passing of the late columnist. Herbie Gomez, a former COPC president and Gold Star Daily’s editor-in-chief, said Bagabuyo left a space in the paper that “no other columnist can fill with mere letters.” (“Bagabuyo, lawyer, columnist, writes 30,” MindanaoGoldStarDaily.com, June 18, 2016)

Bagabuyo is survived by his children.

Eduardo Lacson, 77

VETERAN JOURNALIST Eduardo Lacson died of kidney failure Thursday, June 16.  He was 77.

Lacson started his journalism career  reporting for Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP). He was then invited by his close friend Jose Burgos Jr. in 1984 to join the desk of Ang Pahayagang Malaya, one of the pioneer independent newspapers published during  martial law.

After the EDSA revolution in 1986, Lacson joined the Daily Globe, and later on the Makati-based broadsheet TODAY. Lacson also wrote for the business paper BusinessMirror.

Peers and colleagues remember Lacson as a stern mentor who did not mince words over careless news gathering and writing. His friends also remember him for his trademark laughter, which filled the newsrooms  even during the perilous days of martial law. As Burgos once said, his laughter could “drive away military raiders.” (“OBITUARY | Journalist Eduardo Lacson: his laughter could ‘drive away military raiders’,” Interaksyon.com, June 18, 2016)

Lacson is survived by his sons.