Veteran Manila cops remember Alex as ‘nosey, news scooper’

Veteran Manila policemen say they will always remember The STAR’s late deputy managing editor, Alex Fernando, for his keen nose for news.

Retired senior superintendent Cresencio Cabasal, who was then an intelligence operative under the then Western Police District’s theft and robbery section, remembers Fernando "as a nosey reporter who would immediately tail the operatives when they conduct arrests." The WPD is now known as the Manila Police District (MPD).

Cabasal described Fernando as one of the "news scoopers" of the WPD press corps, but praised him for his friendliness, saying he was practically a member of the MPD.

Cabasal, however, said that despite this, Fernando would not hesitate to hit erring policemen through his stories.

Senior Police Officer 3 Edgar Paterno, who was a patrolman when Fernando pounded the beat, vividly recalls the latter as a tough-looking, bemoustached reporter with a loud voice.

Paterno, who now is in charge of the morning shift investigators in the MPD’s homicide section, said Fernando would always barge into their section with his trademark query: "O, wala bang asunto (Are there any new cases)?"

Paterno remembers Fernando most during their sessions of pusoy, a card game, while waiting for the news of the day to break. He said Fernando liked to distract other players in a bid to win the game and would share jokes with most of the policemen.

Retired police major Pete Angulo, who once headed the homicide section, described Fernando as a chain-smoking reporter. Despite this habit, Angulo said Fernando was always alert, "and you could never hide news from him."

Fernando quit smoking several years before his death. He even became an anti-smoking advocate, warning friends and colleagues about the ill effects of smoking.

As a deskman, Fernando was "patient and dedicated," according to STAR reporter Perseus Echeminada, who was a correspondent in Mindanao in the late 1980s.

Echeminada said his first encounter with Fernando was a "shouting match," when he was phoning in his story and Fernando was on the other line getting a choppy signal.

"Mag-alpha tango ka!" Fernando told Echeminada, referring to the phonetic code used in military radio communication when spelling out words. Echeminada remembers replying, "Sir, I do not know how to tango."

"Alex was among the patient and dedicated deskmen who patiently stayed on the phone just to get my story. At the end of my report he would always (say), ‘Ingat, bay (Take care, friend),’ before he hung up," Echeminada said.

But with the advent of the Internet, fax machines and cell phones, Echeminada said during the past 10 years he and Fernando seldom had the opportunity to talk over the phone.

However, Echeminada remembers that Fernando surprised him by calling his cell phone when his wife underwent breast cancer surgery four years ago.

"He told me that he prayed for the recovery of my wife," Echeminada said. "That was the last personal phone call I received from Sir Alex."

Newly appointed National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) assistant director Pedro Bulaong said he has been Fernando’s friend for 30 years, back when he was a duty officer at the WPD’s mobile patrol and Fernando a reporter for the defunct Times Journal.

He said that Fernando, apart from being hardworking and objective in his articles, had a nose for good stories.

"There would be times when we would have operations and we would be surprised when Alex would show up and know about our operation," Bulaong said.

He said that during their more relaxed moments, Fernando "was a jolly person who dishes out jokes that are down to earth."

Even when they lost touch as they pursued their respective careers, the camaraderie between the two men was never lost. Fernando transferred to The STAR and later became its deputy managing editor, while Bulaong was assigned to various provinces.

When he was called back to serve in Metro Manila, Bulaong said they would often see each other at Remembrances, a bar in Ermita, Manila.

"His favorite drink was Carlos I brandy... but he was not a drunkard like some people and cause trouble, he was a moderate drinker," Bulaong said.

While at Remembrances, Bulaong said he and Fernando would talk and listen to the piano. "His favorite music were OPMs (original Pilipino music) and old songs," he said.

Another of Fernando’s old friends, retired police general Jaime Barbers, said Fernando "had a soft spot for people, sometimes even petty criminals."

Barbers added that Fernando would not be lonely in the afterlife because his old friends Joe Burgos, Louie Beltran and Teddy Africa — all veteran journalists who once covered the WPD — would be waiting for him. — With Evelyn Macairan, Perseus Echeminada

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The remains of Alex Fernando will be transferred from the National Press Club to the Philippine STAR at 2 p.m. today. His remains will lie in state until tomorrow morning at the auditorium on the fourth floor of the STAR building at the corner of Roberto S. Oca and Railroad streets, Port Area, Manila. Necrological rites will take place after a 9 p.m. Mass. His remains will be taken to the family residence in Poblacion, Bustos, Bulacan at 11 a.m. tomorrow. He will be buried on Sunday at the family mausoleum at the Bustos Municipal Cemetery after a 2 p.m. Mass at the Sto. Niño Parish Church.