Photo by Mario Ignacio.

The figure is a big leap from the 92 Liberals who make up two-fifths of the district representatives in the present chamber. Aquino is chair of the Liberal Party.

The LP’s dominance in the House is in sharp contrast to its small force in the current Senate, which will practically remain the same when Congress opens in July.

Although Aquino’s Team PNoy coalition is assured of nine of its 12 senatorial candidates winning, in reality only one candidate, his namesake and nephew Bengino “Bam” Aquino IV, is a member of the LP.

Click here(VERA Files) for the complete story.

Filipino workers in Taipei. Photo from Want China Times.

Last Wednesday, President Aquino sent as his personal representative Amadeo R. Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office “to convey his and the Filipino people’s deep regret and apology to the family of Mr. Hung Shi-chen as well as to the people of Taiwan over the unfortunate and unintended loss of life.”

Taiwan Foreign Minister David Lin refused to meet Perez, who was just received by Foreign Affairs Director-General Benjamin Ho.

Hung Shi Chen, was the 65-year old fisherman who was killed when the a member of the Philippine Coast Guard team that was manning the ship owned by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, fired upon what they considered as an intruding boat into Philippine territory about 10 a.m. of May 9, 2013.

This latest foreign relations problem shows that Malacañang has not learned from the 2010 Rizal Park hostage crisis.

There was a quotation in a news item by Agence France Presse attributed to PCG Spokesman Armand Balilo that “If somebody died, they (the family) deserve our sympathy but not an apology.”

Balilo said he was misquoted. He clarified that he was asked by a reporter who came late if there was an apology issued during the press conference and he replied in Taglish that what they issued was a statement of sympathy, not an apology.

There’s a whale of a difference in what Balilo said and the quote in the news item. Lost in translation?

It’s unfortunate that, that statement was what angered Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeo, who was quoted in Taipei Times a saying, “The Philippine government’s attitude is outrageous and unacceptable.”

It didn’t help at all that President Aquino, who was in the final stretch of the campaign for the PNoy Team senatorial ticket, didn’t make any move like send a highly- credible private representative to President Ma to explain what they were doing about the incident – if they were doing anything at all – in the seven days that outrage was building up in Taiwan.

Last Sunday, Taiwan upped the ante and issued a 72-hour ultimatum reiterating its demand for a formal apology, arrest those responsible for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, and compensate the victim’s family.

Immediately, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Abigail Valte announced that Antonio Basilio,resident representative of the MECO in Taiwan, “has visited the family of the victim and extended condolences and offered his apologies.”

Basilio clarified that his apology was to the family and not the formal apology demanded by the Taiwan government from the Philippine government. Not surprisingly, it was not good enough for Taiwan as did not come from a high enough authority and lacked “sincerity”, President’s Ma’s spokeswoman said.

Aquino waited for the 72-hour ultimatum to expire and Taiwan ordered the suspension of the hiring of Filipino workers (about 2,500 monthly are added to the 85,000 Filipinos currently working in Taiwan), recalled their representative in Manila, Raymond L.S. Wang, and sent back to Manila Antonio Basilio.

Taiwan rejected Aquino’s much-delayed apology finding unacceptable the excuse that the loss of life was “unintended.”

Taiwan imposed more sanctions including a red travel alert urging Taiwanese not to visit the Philippines and the suspension of exchanges between high-level officials, as well as a halt to exchanges on trade and academic affairs.

Taiwan also wants to start talks on fisheries agreement between Taipei and Manila. This is problematic because government-to-government accord would violate the Philippines One-China policy.

All statements by Philippine officials claim that the Taiwanese fishing vessel intruded into Philippine waters. Taiwan, on the other hand, said the fishing vessel was within their Exclusive Economic Zone.

Both are correct because the maritime boundary between the Philippines and Taiwan in that area is less than the 200 nautical mile EEZ provided in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Separate investigations have started . It should answer a number of questions on the incident like why did the Taiwanese fishing vessel, which is just a third in size of the BFAR ship, sustain 40 to 50 bullet holes?

This is important because as lawyer Harry Roque said, UNCLOS prohibits the use of unnecessary use of force in dealing with illegal fishermen.” In fact,” he said, “ the UNCLOS provides that fishermen caught illegally fishing in a state’s exclusive economic zone should not even be detained or charged criminally The only leeway granted to a party state is to apprehend the vessel which, in turn, must be immediately released upon posting of bond.”

Chair, Center for International Law

The recent shooting by the Philippine Coast guard of a lone Taiwanese fisherman illustrates the kind of governmental response that we Filipinos deserve when we ourselves fall victims to an internationally wrongful act. Under international law, there is state responsibility for an internationally wrongful act where there is a breach of international law and when the breach is attributable to the state. Here, it appears that because the killing was because of a shot fired by a state organ, a member of the Philippine Coast Guard, that the killing may be attributed to the Philippines government. Acts of state organs, no matter how lowly their ranks, and even if they are ultra vires, are always attributed to a state.

Furthermore, there too appears to be a breach of international law since the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea prohibits the use of unnecessary use of force in dealing with illegal fishermen. In fact, the UNCLOS provides that fishermen caught illegally fishing in a states exclusive economic zone should not even be detained or charged criminally The only leeway granted to a party state is to apprehend the vessel which, in turn, must be immediately release upon posting of bond.

The lesson learned is how our own government should espouse the claim of its national, even if there is only one solitary victim. Not only did the highest echelon of the Taiwanese government demand for an apology, it also demanded compensation and even threatened the Philippines with both military and economic reprisals, even if both are prohibited by international law. This is in stark contrast with the current practice of the Philippine government. Only recently, 200 of our nationals became sitting ducks to Malaysia’s illegal resort to excessive force. Our response was to threaten our nationals with domestic prosecution.

Because we committed an internationally wrongful act, we have the obligation under international law to apologize and provide compensation to the victim. This though is the full extent of our liability. Taiwan’s demand that in addition, we enter into a fishing agreement with it is bereft of legal merit. Taiwan is not an independent state and should not expect to be treated as such. Any fishing agreement involving overlapping areas of our exclusive economic zone should be with the People Republic of China. This is consistent with the international communities’ recognition of the so-called one-China policy; that is, Taiwan forms part of the People’s Republic of China and is not a republic on its own.

This latest experience should also teach our policy makers to act with dispatch where it is our government that incurs international responsibility. Since the shooting was at the behest of a state organ, the Philippine Coast Guard, the investigation should not have lasted as long as it did. It only entails requiring the Master of the coast guard vessel to report what transpired that led to the shooting. Absent evidence that it was in self-defense, the Philippines should have apologized with dispatch and should not have waited for any formal demand to do so. Our failure to act with dispatch consistent with our international obligation gave Taiwan the opportunity to exploit the incident to promote its own interest.

No. 1

It must be ego-shattering for the three re-electionists – Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero, and Alan Cayetano –whose desire for the number one slot is not a secret to the public.

Other pluses about Monday’s polls are the re-election of Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Trillanes because despite limited TV ads due to limited resources, he was able to make it to number nine, an improvement over his number 11 ranking in the 2007 elections.

His victory in this election proved that his 2007 win, when he was under detention, was no fluke. If the 2007 votes for him were “acts of protest” against Arroyo, last Monday’s votes were for his willingness to take on even the powerful and his strong stand on issues that he thinks work against the interest of the Filipino people.

The re-election of Pimentel is made more meaningful by the non-inclusion of Juan Miguel Zubiri, who stole from him five years of his first term.

Grace winning a slot in the Magic 12 was expected especially with her impressive surge in the last three weeks of the campaign. It was her going over Loren Legarda, who had led since the very beginning that stunned even those who voted for her. In fact , in Pulse Asia’s May 10-11 survey, although she was ranked 2-7, she was still behind Legarda, Chiz Escudero and Alan Cayetano.

Grace’s not -so- secret weapon, mom Susan Roces.

What’s admirable about Grace campaign was how she wisely used her formidable political asset – her father, the late FPJ – to project herself- unassuming,honest, competent.

Add to that the support of her mother,movie queen Susan Roces. After Susan’s TV endorsement those of the Iglesia ni Cristo and even Kris Aquino were just icing on the cake.

Grace admitted that most of the votes for her were “vindication votes” -from people who felt that what was stolen from her father in 2004 should be given to her.

In a morning ANC TV interview, social scientist Randy David remarked that FPJ must be smiling from he is now. Grace shared the joke among FPJ’s friends that by now, “tumatagay na yun.”

Antonio Basilio

By Ellen Tordesillas,VERA Files

Philippine Representative in Taiwan Antonio Basilio said Sunday his apology to the family of the fisherman who was killed Thursday by a member of the Philippine Coast Guard in an incident in the disputed waters off Northern Philippines is not the government’s formal apology being demanded by Taiwan.

In an interview, Basilio, resident Representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, said together with Taiwan’s Foreign Minister David Lin, he visited Saturday the family of Hung Shih-cheng, the 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman who was killed after a Coast Guard personnel fired upon the fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 in waters both claimed by the Philippines and Taiwan as part of their 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones.

Asked if his apology can be considered the Aquino government’s apology to Taiwan, Basilio replied, “The apology was to the family. It’s different from the Philippine government apology to the Taiwan government. “

Basilio said the the government’s formal apology being demanded by Taiwan will be decided after the investigation is completed which is expected within this week.

Taiwan media reported that the office of President Ma Ying-jeo issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Aquino government “to arrest those responsible for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, issue a formal apology and compensate the victim’s family.”

If the Aquino government Manila fails to respond to their demands within 72 hours, which commenced “12 a.m. on May 12,” Taiwan will freeze Philippine worker applications, recall its representative in Manila and ask the Philippine representative to return to Manila to help in the investigation, reports said.

Basilio said, “we will try to reasonably comply” with Taiwan’s demands . He said both the Philippines and Taiwan have agreed to cooperate in each other’s investigations.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail F. Valte said, “The investigation has commenced with the arrival of the commander of MCS 3001 and that he, together with the crew, have been relieved of their duties.”

“The Philippine Coast Guard, together with other agencies, assures everyone that this investigation will be conducted in an impartial, transparent and expeditious manner, “ she said.

Last Friday, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said, “If somebody died, they (the family) deserve our sympathy but not an apology.”

“The Philippine government’s attitude is outrageous and unacceptable,” Taipei Times quoted Ma as having said.

It also said Ma has come under pressure from the public and lawmakers across party lines to take a tougher stand on the incident.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin Hau said the Taipei city government would retract its invitation to the Philippines to attend the Dragon Boat Festival next month.

Hua also said Taipei will suspend all exchanges with Manila and Quezon City — both sister cities of Taipei — as well as the city government’s plan to donate two ambulances to the Philippines.

Despite the absence of official diplomatic ties due to the Philippines’ one-China policy, economic relations with Taiwan remains robust. About 83,000 Filipinos work in Taiwan. Bilateral trade between Taiwan and the Philippines amounted to $6.17 billion in 2011 with Taiwan as the country’s sixth top trading partner.

Taiwan and the Philippines are both claimants to islands in the Spratlys in the South China Sea ( referred to by the Philippines as West Philippine Sea) together with China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
Taipei Times

The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday gave the Philippines 72 hours to arrest those responsible for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, issue a formal apology and compensate the victim’s family.

If Manila failed to respond to these demands within 72 hours, the government will freeze Philippine worker applications, recall the Republic of China (ROC) representative in Manila and ask the Philippine representative to return to Manila to help in the investigation, Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) told a news conference last night following a national security meeting presided over by Ma.

The 72-hour deadline started from “12am on May 12,” Lee said.

The meeting, attended by top officials including Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) and Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), lasted about two hours from 7pm to 9pm in the Presidential Office.

The incident took place on Thursday, when a Philippine Coast Guard vessel opened fire on the Pingtung-based fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 in waters 164 nautical miles (304km) southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip, killing 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).

The boat was fishing in waters in which the exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines overlap.

“The Philippine government’s attitude is outrageous and unacceptable,” Ma said earlier yesterday while inspecting a coastguard drill at Taichung Harbor.

He also instructed the Coast Guard Administration to dispatch ships to the exclusive economic zone and increase patrols over territorial waters to protect Taiwanese fishermen.

“The Philippines shot at an unarmed fishing boat. This violates international safety regulations. Firing 40 to 50 shots at the boat is brutal and cold-blooded,” the president said.

The Ma administration has come under pressure from the public and lawmakers across party lines to take a tougher stand on the incident.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday also urged the Ma administration to initiate action against Manila, such as suspending all exchanges with the Philippines and banning the recruitment of Filipino workers.

He also proposed sending naval ships and extending their patrol scope beyond the exclusive economic zone to better protect Taiwanese fishermen.

“Only by doing this can we better protect our fishermen’s rights and defend our national dignity. We should take a hardline approach in handling this incident,” he said at Taipei City Hall.

Hau added that the Taipei City Government would retract its invitation to the Philippines to attend the Dragon Boat Festival next month.

“The Taipei City Government stands behind Taiwanese fishermen. Unless the Philippine government brings the killers to justice and compensates [the victim’s family], we will stop inviting the [Philippines’] dragon boat team to this year’s festival,” he said.

Taipei will also suspend all exchanges with Manila and Quezon City — both sister cities of Taipei — as well as the city government’s plan to donate two ambulances to the Philippines.

The Philippines has sent dragon boat teams to compete in the city’s annual dragon boat race for the past two years. Taipei City’s Department of Sports said it would cancel this year’s invitation tomorrow.

New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) also condemned the shooting and said that the city would suspend exchanges with Manila until the Philippine government offers an apology, compensate the victim’s family and apprehends the perpetrators.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/05/12/2003562050

A crew member of a Taiwanese trawler was killed Thursday morning after being fired upon by a Philippine Navy ship in the disputed area of the South China Sea, media reports in Taipei and Beijing said.

The online Taiwan News said the incident took place at 10 a.m. “about halfway between the southern tip of Taiwan and the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, in an area where territorial rights overlap.”

The report identified the fatality as Hung Shih-cheng, 65, father of the captain of the vessel Kuang Ta Hsing 28 registered in Pingtung County.

The other crew members included Hung’s son-in-law and an Indonesian citizen, reports said.

Tsai Jih-yao, deputy director-general of the Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture, said the fishing trawler, which was fishing for tuna, was so severely damaged it lost engine power.

No official statement has been issued by the Philippine government.

Sought for comment, officials of the Navy, Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said they have not received any such report, a news account in Taiwan said.

“If warships were involved in such an event, we would be the first one to receive the news,” the report quoted an Armed Forces of the Philippines officer as saying.

The report also quoted a Philippine official as saying, “The incident happened in waters far away from the shore. We don’t have any ship over there.”

According to Taiwan News, the Taiwanese government has asked its representative in Manila and the Philippine representative in Taipei to provide more details.

The Philippines, which adheres to the One-China Policy, has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the two countries maintain economic and cultural offices in Manila and Taipei which serve as de facto embassies.

A Xinhua report said the spokesman for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Yang Yi, strongly condemned the killing describing it as “barbaric.”

“We are in deep mourning over the fisherman’s death and express condolence over the shooting,” Yang said.

The fishermen’s organization in Pingtung urged Taiwan government to protest to Manila and demand compensation. They said the ship had been effectively destroyed, with its engines and nets completely destroyed, Taiwan News said.

Taiwan, like China, claims the whole of the South China Sea where the Spratlys consisting of some 160 islands are located. Some of the islands are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. Taiwan occupies the biggest island, Itu Aba.

Thursday’s encounter happened two days after the Philippines warned China against trespassing its maritime borders after it was reported that China was sending a flotilla, including 30 fishing vessels, to the Spratly Islands.

Taiwan News said another fishing ship was on its way from the Pingtung County harbor of Tungkang to provide assistance to the trawler, which is located 180 nautical miles southeast of Erluanbi, the southernmost tip of the island of Taiwan and still had a crew of three on board. The Coast Guard was reportedly also sending a ship to help out, reports said.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

Voters registration

Comelec Commissioner Sixto Brillantes, Jr. said Resolution 9688 was to prevent vote buying and vote selling which have intensified with the computerization of the elections. He said they released it only Tuesday “so that no one would know about it.. because if they know about it, everyone would withdraw.”

Brillantes, who was a much sought-after election lawyer (President Aquino and former Maguindanao Governer Andal Ampatuan Sr., were his clients) before he joined his elections must be joking. Or could it be that he precisely knew that by now the silly money ban is useless.

PWD list-up

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of PWDs and the country’s Magna Carta for PWDs guarantee the right of PWDs to to vote and stand for election to public office as part of their participation in public and political life.

VERA Files, a member of Fully Abled Nation-, a project spearheaded by The Asia Foundation with support from the Australian Agency for International Development, which aims to increase the participation of PWDs elections and other democratic processes- said there are 362,113 PWD registered voters.

Sign language

Here are some which persons without disabilities can help to make voting less difficult for PWDs:

-Is the polling place elevated? If elevated, is there a ramp for wheel-chaired bound PWDs to reach the ground level? Does the ramp have rails on each side? Is the ramp sturdy and non-slippery?

-If without a ramp, what provisions are there for wheelchair-bound PWDs?

-For large polling places, are there parking spaces specially designated for PWDs?

-For voting centers with PWDs, are the polling places of precincts at the ground floor?

-For clustered precincts with PWDs, is there a waiting area established specifically for PWDs? Is there a Special Board of Election Inspectors and support staff assigned to the polling center?

- Is there an express lane dedicated to PWDs? Is there a sign inside the polling place indicating the location of this express lane and who could avail of it?

-Do the tables and desks to be used for voting have sufficient leg-space for wheel-chair bound PWDs? Are the toilet facilities suitable for wheelchair-bound PWDs in terms of adequacy of turning spaces?

-Are there sufficient signages for PWDs from point of entry to connecting destination?

-Are there sufficient communication devices for deaf/mute PWDs such as paper and pen, interpreters, large prints and guides?

Let’s make every vote count. Including that of our PWD countrymen.

Crossing party lines, INC’s list includes seven from Team PNoy (Sonny Angara,Bam Aquino,Alan Peter Cayetano,Grace Poe,Loren Legarda,Antonio Trillanes, and Cynthia Villar) and five from United Nationalist Alliance (JV Ejercito,Richard Gordon,Nancy Binay,Gringo Honasan and Jack Enrile).

An INC member said the day after the list was reported in media, a high ranking official of the church told them that it’s not final and changes may be made before the Monday election. That should keep the suspense among those in the list as well as those who want to get the endorsement that would be crucial in their getting into the Magic 12.

According to reliable survey groups like Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia, of all the religious groups, it’s only the INC that has proven to deliver command votes. There has been no proof of command votes delivered by El Shaddai, Jesus is Lord ( JIL was not able to make its leader, Eddie Villanueva, win in his past presidential bid. He is now a senatorial candidate and is not rating high in surveys) and other religious groups.

Although Filipinos are predominantly Catholic which boasts of 45 million voters, there has been no proven “ Catholic vote”. In this election, however, Catholic groups launched “Team Patay and Team Buhay” and the White Vote Movement, which endorsed candidates who opposed the Reproductive Health Bill.

Aside from Honasan, Aquilino Pimentel III , Trillanes, Villar, Mitos Magsaysay, and Ejercito, the White Vote Movement has added the names of Richard Gordon, Nancy Binay and Miguel Zubiri, all of UNA, to the list of senatorial candidates they will endorse.

Command votes are votes that are dictated or heavily influenced by a group, a community leader, bigtime businessmen and warlords.

At this stage of the campaign, command votes would be crucial in determining one’s inclusion in the Magic 12 for senatorial candidates who are in numbers 10 to 16 in the surveys.

The latest survey by Pulse Asia, conducted April 20 to 22, 2013 said those whose rankings are still fluid are Zubiri (10th to 16th places), Honasan (11th to 16th places), Enrile, Jr. (11th to 16th places), Hontiveros (12th to 17th places) and Magsaysay, Jr. (12th to 17th places). They would be the ones who would be seriously make affected by INC’s estimated 1.5 to 1.8 million votes.

For the frontrunners, an INC endorsement is important to be number one, especially if the senator has higher ambitions in 2016.

Some say that the INC endorsement is overrated noting that the religious group shrewdly endorses those who are almost sure winners based on the surveys, except for one or two. In 2007, INC did not endorse Trillanes who did not figure in the rankings in the early part of the campaign. Imprisoned and with no organization to protect his votes in the canvassing, Trillanes came out number 11 with 11 million votes.

INC’s list for Monday’s election does not include any candidate ranked below number 17.

It is, however, intriguing why re-electionist Chiz Escudero, who is number two in pre-election surveys, is not included in the list.

There must be some other reasons.

JOY, 59
By ALEX MAGNO,The Philippine Star

I first ran into Joy de los Reyes over four decades ago, when barricades rose and the streets were on fire. We were combatants, members of what were called “composite teams,” militants expected to hold the line against police charges to protect the main formation of demonstrators.

We became unlikely but fast friends. He was from the Samahan ng Demokratikong Kabataan (SDK) and I from the chauvinistic Kabataang Makabayan (KM). He emanated from the public schools of Aklan and I from a suburban Catholic school. He was always disorganized and I was an obsessive-compulsive, task-oriented bastard. Besides, he had such an unlikely name.

He was studying to become an engineer and I was supposed to become a lawyer. Neither of us lived up to our original plans. Joy fell in love with philosophy and I became immersed in political economy.

We must have consumed a few thousand cups of coffee between us through our college years, arguing over essentialism and structuralism, the “movement” and the politics of our time. It took about two decades, I think, before Joy was finally awarded his bachelor’s degree in philosophy because he refused to take ROTC (the requirement was eventually abolished).

Shortly after martial law was declared, Joy joined the Daily Express as proofreader. I visited him there, loving the scent of printer’s ink. While waiting for galley proofs, he read Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and then the works of Heidegger and Habermas. He was surely the most literate proofreader in town. He would rather read than sleep.

He encouraged me to write movie reviews for that paper, the only thing that could be written with any satisfaction during a time of tight censorship. I did.

In the late seventies, we set up the Critical Studies and Research Group, a loose and chaotic network of intellectuals that sometimes seemed to be doing more drinking than writing. But the fraternity kept our morale high, supplied us a community where dissident ideas may be shared. The Left was about as suspicious of us as the Right was. We defied every convention and interrogated orthodoxies without mercy.

Joy took to journalism with the same passion he once reserved only for philosophy, rising to become editor-in-chief of Malaya. The former occupation kept his family fed; the latter preoccupation made him a happy man. Until the last few years, he participated in an informal group called the Diliman Book Club where members took turns reviewing the latest opuses.

When we greeted his first son, I insisted that being a de los Reyes he should name his son Isabelo, to honor a great Filipino patriot. He did.

Over the last two decades, Joy and I saw less and less of each other although when we did, we could discuss through the night our thoughts and our sentiments without inhibition. In between, we raised families, sustained careers and dealt with the unavoidable tragedies. Susan succumbed to cancer shortly after Jane did. Joy sat with me through the otherwise unbearable chore of seeing through Susan’s cremation.

Last year, Joy pulled me aside to say he was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer. I looked at him in the eye for a while, grasping for something to say. I finally, managed to mutter: “All of us, we all have only one chance to die with dignity.”

And he did, unrepentant to the end. The man, generous to a fault, left with no regrets and no rancor. He died as peacefully as he lived.

[caption id="attachment_21734" align="aligncenter" width="515"] Joy’s birth day party last Feb. 7 at The Hobbit House. With Joy are Rollie Francia and Mario Hernando. From Mario’s FB wall.

JOY’S STORY

By Rosario T. Galang

These were Joy’s words to me when I first saw him in November of 2011 after he was diagnosed with stage four cancer.
Last month, on the day before he flew to Aklan, he said, “Hirap na ako, wala na.”

That was quintessentially Joy, brave, brief, concise, accepting. No pretensions, that’s how he was.

To Jane, his late wife, he was taciturn, a perfect ploy to her ebullience. To his drinking buddies, he sang “Anak Dalita”. To his golf partners, he was a quiet but powerful player. To his UP barkada, he discussed philosophy, ugh.

His book collection was legendary but he lost it all to “Ondoy”. A fast learner , in the last two years of his life he had an e-reader, therefore no danger of losing his collection to floods.

Two or three decades before the Lord of the Rings was made into a movie he was already immersed in the Hobbit’s way (the House and the book). He was born in the Age of Aquarius and was a participant in the First Quarter Storm. A friend called him the “renaissance man”.

He was a gun enthusiast. He once made a rowdy drunken Korean come to his senses by simply whipping out his gun ala-Dirty Harry.

He tried for more than a year to build a yacht. He was downloading so much info on boat making our printer at the office almost conked out. Until the very end one officemate was asking if he was able to build one.

Joy always floored me with his outbursts of “confidences” that left me almost wanting to tear out my hair. I will always remember his face when he first told me of his discomfiture when the Philippines’ most popular actress once made a pass at him. (ha, ha )

I first met Joy while covering the Securities and Exchange of Commission, more than a generation ago. He was with the Daily Express then, at the time the top newspaper, I was with Times Journal. He later transferred to Times Journal while I took almost a decade’s leave to take care of my son. He moved to Malaya in June 1985 and become its business editor and subsequently rose to become Editor in Chief. In all these 28 years, there was only one time that Joy blew his top. The photographer never knew what hit him. His only comment was “ang sakit pala ng murang Tagalog.”

When he spoke you simply had to listen to him.

For close to a quarter of a century he wrote incisive editorials for the paper.

First and foremost, Joy was a quiet guy, but he knew his craft. He was a wordsmith.
He hardly said a word in the office, head bent down, he was focused on his craft. That was his legacy to us. Dedication to his craft. Focus to his craft.

He was a good friend and damn good journalist. We will miss him.

REMEMBERING JOY

By Ellen Tordesillas

The three J-Joey Salgado, Joy, and Joel Saracho Fr Desiree Carlos’ FB wall.

Many years ago, a Quezon City policeman went to the Malaya office, then on Timog st., Quezon City to serve arrest warrants on the editors.

The arrest warrants were in connection with a libel case over a story that happened in Dumaguete City written by Joey Salgado, now the media officer of Vice President Jejomar Binay. When the prosecutor decided to file the information, Malaya’s lawyer in Dumaguete was abroad. Thus, Malaya’s editors didn’t know about the case.

Armed with the arrest warrants for Joy de los Reyes, managing editor, and Yvonne Chua, news editor, the police entered Malaya’s editorial room looking for two female persons. Only Joy and Yvonne were at the desk at that time. They got Yvonne, who posted bail at the Quezon City Hall, after the regulatory picture-taking and finger-printing. The police didn’t bother with the male editor at the desk, who kept on working quietly.

Joy, on his own, went to the court at the Quezon City Hall and posted bail the next day.

Aside from gender confusion because of his name (how many men do you know are named “Joy”?), the incident underscored Joy’s low-key personality. He did not have the air and swagger of newsroom divas.

Joy’s superior intellect and deep understanding of issues, past and current, were behind Malaya’s editorials that reflected his liberal activism.

He was a sharp editor. Under Joy, you would feel confident that your article would be respected and improved.

It was a long, difficult battle that Joy had with cancer. In a way, he outlived the disease (that also claimed wife Jane in 2009) by more than a year. I thought that he finally put one over it, just like how he evaded arrest by the Quezon City police. It was not to be so.

Joy was a good person and he will be missed sorely.

Goodbye, Joy. We will miss your chicken liver pâté and oysters from Balete. That’s in Aklan, where his mother lives. Say “Hello” to Jane for us.

MALAYA EDITOR DE LOS REYES, ‘RENAISSANCE MAN,’ DIES; 59

By Monica Feria,Philippine Daily Inquirer

‘Renaissance man’

De los Reyes, who battled cancer for more than a year, died at the Health Centrum Hospital in Roxas City. His remains lie at his home town of Balete, Aklan, and will be flown to Manila on Tuesday for cremation. A wake will be held from Tuesday to Friday at the University of the Philippines Chapel in Diliman, Quezon City, according to his family.

His ashes will be interred on Saturday at the Columbary of Santo Niño de Cebu San Agustin Seminary on Fisheries St. Visayas Ave., Quezon City, beside those of his wife, Leticia “Jane” Subang, a journalist, too, who died in 2009. It was also in 2009 that he lost his house and most of his material possessions to Tropical Storm “Ondoy.”

De los Reyes was born on Feb. 9, 1954, in Balete, Aklan. He came to Manila after high school in 1970, entering UP Diliman on a science scholarship and enrolling in Mathematics. He joined the Alpha Sigma fraternity. He was a student activist during the days now referred to as the First Quarter Storm. His studies were disrupted with the declaration of martial law in 1972.

He later surfaced and found work in the newspaper industry. He worked his way up from proofreader and editorial assistant at the entertainment desk of the now defunct Daily Express to business reporter at the Times Journal, eventually climbing to business editor of Malaya newspaper and finally its editor in chief.

Meanwhile, he had married and started a family.

Back to school

De los Reyes also worked his way back to school, finishing his philosophy degree at UP. He was in the process of completing his master’s degree when it was discovered he had cancer in 2011.

Among friends, he was proud of his talent in sports—he was a golfer, a sharp shooter and a sailor. De los Reyes was also an art patron. He himself played the guitar and loved music. He was an active member of the Diliman Book Club.

He was sociable and loved good wine. He also studied culinary arts and was into baking. He invested in agriculture and animal husbandry in his hometown. He kept up with his friends at after-work hangouts in Malate, among them “The Hobbit House” and “Oar House,” as well as the Quezon City-based Thursday Club, a group of print and broadcast journalists.

“Joy, as Francis Bacon advised, was always true to himself. He was never false to others,” texted Amado “Jake” Macasaet, publisher of Malaya.

“He was multitalented. His model was the renaissance man—a modern one,” said Roberto Tango, associate professor at UP’s philosophy department and a friend of De los Reyes.

“He was a decent man, and a good friend,” added Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

“His understanding of issues was deep, which made him a good editor, said Malaya columnist and top Internet blogger Ellen Tordesillas.

De los Reyes is survived by his mother, Ida Feleciano Cortes-de los Reyes, his siblings Gay, Rex, Lito, Leo and Vanessa Cortes de los Reyes and his children Antonio Isabelo, Aida Corazon and Jose Socrates.