Palace media executive dies in Shanghai

MANILA, Philippines – The head of Malacañang’s Media Accreditation and Relations Division (MARD) died of a heart attack yesterday after an inspection of the World Expo venue where President Arroyo is expected on June 8.

Henry Reveche, 61, was scheduled to return home yesterday after spending three days in Shanghai as part of the staff preparing for the President’s visit to China on June 8 and 9.

Malacañang media accreditation and relations officer Brenda Zaragoza said she received a call from the protocol officer in Shanghai at past noon yesterday asking for contact information on Reveche’s wife. She was subsequently informed that her boss had died.

Zaragoza recalled that Reveche called up their office last Friday expressing concern about the plan of two assistant secretaries of the Office of the Press Secretary to join the President’s Shanghai trip because they might not be able to walk between the venues.

News and Information Bureau director Brando Merrera said Reveche was having lunch with a member of Radio-Television Malacañang at a restaurant in Shanghai when he collapsed in the bathroom.

He said doctors at a nearby hospital tried to revive him but failed.

Merrera said Reveche already knew about a blockage in one of his arteries and was advised by his doctor to undergo treatment just before he left for Shanghai.

However, he was already scheduled to go to Shanghai and decided to postpone the treatment.

Reveche had been with Malacañang since 1973 and served in various positions at the National Media Center and Philippine Information Agency before joining the MARD in 1998.

Zaragoza said Reveche once served as chief of staff of former press secretary Hector Villanueva during the Ramos administration. He is survived by his wife and children.

The OPS, which has jurisdiction over the MARD, has suffered a number of losses in its senior staff since last year.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde died last January of a heart attack, while Press Undersecretary Jose Capadocia was among those who died in a helicopter crash in April last year.