Filipino photographer survives Afghan war

Romeo "Romy" Gacad, 42, photo chief of the Agence France Presse (AFP) in Manila is definitely one of the best photojournalists around. After all, he was recently nominated for this year’s prestigious Pulitzer Prize for his photos of America’s war on Afghanistan. The photos appeared in the December 24 issue of Time magazine. One of them was even used as the cover photo of the magazine.

This is the second Pulitzer nomination for Romy. His first was for the powerful 1989 finish-line photo of Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis in the 100-meter dash finals race in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The photo not only documented the biggest scandal of the games – where Johnson was later stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for steroid use. The photo was also a great study in contrast, the triumph of Johnson as seen in his face and outstretched arms, and the exhaustion and defeat of Lewis. Romy says: "Sports’ photography is 80 percent preparation and 20 percent luck."

I have known Romy as fellow member of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).

In 1999 I interviewed MILF founder Hashim Salamat for a foreign magazine through long distance telephone calls and e-mails, but I declined his invitation to visit Camp Abubakar. It was Romy who provided the photos of Salamat, which were shot in the jungles of central Mindanao for my story.

A veteran photographer of wars and sports events, Romy would text or e-mail about his assignments like when he covered the 1999 East Timor struggle for independence, the Indonesian riots that brought down dictator Suharto, two football World Cups, some Olympic Games, the Sulu hostage crisis and many more.

So good is Romy that AFP even assigned him to cover the World Cup in Paris. This is definitely an indication of his world-class talents as the French news agency chose a Filipino photographer to cover a major event in Paris.

Romy started out as photographer for the Philippine Collegian, the college newspaper of University of the Philippines. Later on he became a wedding photographer, then moved on to magazines and newspapers. Citing the risks, the low pay, the tough competition and "the mental anguish caused by witnessing human suffering up close," Romy is not too enthusiastic about the prospects of photojournalism in the Philippines, "unless you have the passion for it," he says.

Late last year, Romy worked for six weeks in Pakistan and 20 days on the battlefields of Afghanistan to cover America’s war on Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

He sent me a letter recounting his unforgettable Afghan experiences. I would like to share this letter with you:

Dear Wilson,

If last year was a good year let this year be better. Just returned from a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Spent 20 days in the Tora Bora frontline, doing the hunt for Osama bin Laden story.

It was the toughest assignment I did in my 16 years with Agence France Presse. I had four close calls. A mortar exploded about 20 meters from our jeep as we were returning to our base. A bullet from an al Qaeda sniper missed me by six feet. I was stopped by an American commando with a warning shot and got badly harassed by Afghan mujahedin when we were caught photographing a cave used as ammunition storage by the Al-Qaedas. We had to shell out cash, as they demanded money before we can leave the captured Al Qaeda base.

I was working with Pierre Lhuillery, an experienced AFP reporter who covered Sarajevo, Bosnia and Kosovo. We were a good team, buddy-buddy system, the only way to work in risky places. Each day we had to carefully plan our coverage and check security conditions with the help of our guide and a translator.

Competition was also tough. There were lots of excellent photographers, like James Nachtwey, a former Magnum photographer who has done outstanding books about war and famine. His latest was Inferno. He is a very respectable guy, levelheaded and very professional. James was on assignment for Time magazine. We were shooting elbow to elbow in the frontline.

So when Time magazine used my picture on the cover of the 24 December 2001 issue, it was really a great experience. Nachtwey was not the only competitor, there were many others, too.

I did not have enough time to photograph the mujahedin. After I was stopped at their checkpoint, I got off the 4 x 4 jeep I was renting for US$150 a day and started looking for some pictures to take. Suddenly one mujahedin came down from his bunker on the hill and stood briefly on top of a boulder to watch B-52 planes bomb the nearby al-Qaeda position in Tora Bora mountain. I took six shots before he went away. I knew I had a good photograph, because of the early morning light behind the dramatic silhouette figure. I did not expect it would land on the cover of Time magazine. Having survived all the risks, I think I shot some of my best photos in Afghanistan.

My Afghan assignment gave me a balanced and deeper perspective of the September 11 crisis.

The Afghans are very tough fighters, having survived a generation of conflict including the 20 years of Russian occupation where the U.S. funded, trained and armed the mujahidins including Osama bin Laden in a bloody war against the Russians. The US government called them "freedom-fighters" before, but when they fought against the Americans, they were called "terrorists."

The transition process under UN supervision should be a good solution to keep them away from fighting each other due to tribal factionalism.

There’s still so much more to tell after Osama’s escape. We are on staff rotation to follow up the Afghan events. But I may be doing the World Cup in Japan in June or the Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea in August. It’s also challenging to cover sports, besides there are no bullets and explosions to worry about.

My minor frostbite is getting better. It was winter in Afghanistan, I had a thick jacket, but I forgot to bring gloves. My finger tips went numb and some skin started to peel off. My fingers are feeling better now.

I took a vacation in January after the tough Afghan assignment. So I have lots of time to write.

Best regards and a happy, galloping year ahead,

Romy

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Please send comments/suggestions to wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Metro Manila.