ISAGANI YAMBOT, 77

Isagani Yambot, publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, who died of a heart ailment on March 2, was one of the few remaining journalists in this country who didn’t believe in spin, or in editorializing in the news pages. In the seminars, symposia, roundtable discussions and other events in which journalists discussed those issues that bedevil the profession, “Gani” would argue for simply reporting what happened, leaving the editorializing to the columnists and editorial writers.  Some would refer to his editorial preferences as “old school,” but it’s a phrase that can be misleading. Those preferences are after all neither new nor old, but simply good journalism.

Gani was supposedly recuperating, but succumbed to cardiac arrest 10 days after his quadruple heart bypass operation.

He had been publisher of the Inquirer since 1994, and in acknowledgment of his role in that paper, PDI released the following statement: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved publisher Isagani ‘Gani’ Yambot. He will surely be missed but his spirit lives on in the work we do to ensure editorial policies are closely followed. We are very grateful for all of his contributions and we applaud his passion and commitment to his work. We request that you join us in prayer for the eternal repose of his soul.”

Yambot was also a trustee of the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), the national association of newspapers. He served as its chairman-president from April 2009 to June 2011. PPI’s own statement expressed sadness “at the passing of Isagani Yambot, a true journalist and gentleman. He will be greatly missed by the profession.”

Colleagues, journalists, media practitioners, and government officials also expressed their condolences and paid tribute to Yambot, whose work as a journalist spanned nearly two generations:

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines extended its “condolences to his family and to the PDI even as we mourn his passing as deeply” and noted that “he was a tireless advocate of press freedom and was a constant source of inspiration to us. Notwithstanding manning the helm of one of the top newspapers in the country, he always found time to involve himself in campaigns for press freedom and to end media killings.

“Indeed, Gani and his good friend and another source of inspiration, the late Joe Pavia were the Twin Pillars of the struggle for press freedom. Despite the position he held and the esteem that went along with it, you could never see a more humble and gracious person than Gani Yambot. He would hobnob just as easily with reporters and photojournalists as he would with society’s high and mighty. And he never flinched when confronted with the problems besetting Philippine media, not even if these were tied in to the interests of management and even the paper he worked for and loved. If there is, perhaps, anything Isagani Yambot would have regretted leaving unfinished, it would undoubtedly be the unfinished business of seeing the time when genuine press freedom flourished in our country, when no journalist had to fear losing his life, limb or employment for pursuing the truth, when media owners were truly committed to the welfare and safety of their employees. But this we promise you Gani. We will continue the good fight you fought alongside us. And we will not fail.”

The Center for Community Journalism and Development said Yambot had “consistently demonstrated the unflagging spirit of a true advocate and defender of press freedom, supporting mass actions, even joining rallies and marches under trying circumstances. He has opened the pages of the Philippine Daily Inquirer to the campaign for justice for slain journalists. He gave all of us more voice. His passing leaves another void in Philippine newspapering and journalism. We will miss you, Gani. But with your legacy of resoluteness in the face of challenges…you have inspired us to do even more.”

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte on his passing: “He writes 30 at a time when the newspaper he had worked with for so long, was enjoying unparalleled public trust and popularity. Isagani Yambot was a newsman in the no-holds-barred days before martial law, and continued in the profession in the oppressive martial law years; he was one of the links with the pre-martial law press who mentored a new generation of journalists to understand just how much a free press matters, and who stood shoulder to shoulder with his peers each and every time free speech came under attack after EDSA. He was a calm, cheerful presence not only in the newsroom and boardroom of his paper, but in every gathering of note among journalists and between media, civil society, and government. His was a voice of passion yet reason; the loss of his presence will be felt deeply by a nation that knows all a newsman can ask for, in the end, is this simple epitaph: he wrote it, as he saw it, with honest words and with his only master, the truth.”