Cerge M. Remonde: 1958-2010

I already had a column done for today, as Tuesday was a hectic schedule for me as I had a morning taping for my TV show with Undersecretary and Vice-Chairman for the Dangerous Drugs Board Atty. Paul Oaminal and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Regional Director Randy Pedroso and his legal counsel Atty. Mauro Licen on the very important issue about our problems with the drug menace.

We were done taping by 11:15 a.m., and I was driving back to my office when I decided that I will go for my weekly adoration visit at the Blessed Sacrament in the Capitol Parish. But somehow, I felt that it was still too far away and since the Peace Convent was just nearby, I decided to stop there to pray. Whenever I’m in church, I always turn my cellphone to vibration mode just to know how many text messages I would get. But I never answer calls nor answer any text sent to me.

But as I was inside the convent, my cellphone was vibrating nonstop, and people were trying to call me. So I checked my cellphone and there were so many messages asking me whether it was true that my good friend, Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde had died. A quick check with my sources verified those text messages that Cerge had been found unconscious in the bathroom of his residence and was taken to the Makati Medical Center.

Here I was in the middle of my prayers and all this was happening. Then the final text came in that at 11:51 a.m., my dear friend Cerge had gone ahead of us! Call it coincidental that I was inside the Peace Convent when all these things happened. I took it that the Lord wanted me there to pray for the soul of a lost friend. It was indeed a big shocker that Cerge Remonde who was just in Cebu last weekend to join the Fluvial Parade, the procession and the Sinulog as he was a staunch devotee of the Señor Sto. Niño.

When Cerge is in Cebu, most of us who are close to him never bother him because we know that his time in Cebu is for a much deserved rest. I guess you can read in the front pages of our national dailies as to why Cerge succumbed to a heart attack.

Last October 24th I was with Cerge in Hua Hin, Thailand as he wanted me to be with the Malacañang Press Corps to cover the 15th ASEAN Summit. We had dinner with his staff at a Thai Restaurant and talked about the life and times we had together, especially during those days when we practically met daily for meetings with the People’s Alliance Against Communism (PAAC) that we created.

He even recalled my short stint on AM Radio as he was the anchor of DyLa’s News and Commentaries, when he asked me to co-host the People’s Economic Council (PEC) hour. We did that radio show for almost a year. He thought that I was good enough to go for it alone that he would often beg off from the show to do something else. Later, Cerge became the only Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) Chairman to have served a six-year term that is unsurpassed until now. I didn’t realize until I was writing this piece that his reminiscing with me about the old days was his way of saying goodbye to me, much as his appearance in Cebu was to be his last.

Last December I text Cerge to be my first guest for the opening show for the Year 2010. But unfortunately, he begged off. It was the 4th time he cancelled because of his busy schedule. So I asked him to be my guest for my show during the Sinulog week. He readily accepted, apologizing for the previous cancellation. Then a couple of weeks ago, he once more begged off as he was invited by Isaac and Miguel Belmonte to have lunch at the Philippine STAR as it was our editor Isaac’s birthday. His final text to me was, to send my TV crew to Malacañang where we would do the taping. Sadly, he’s gone! 

When we were in Thailand, Cerge told me something that never came out in the news that a couple of years ago, he underwent a six-hour operation of his spine. He told me this when I noticed that he was taking so many medicines. What I gathered from his staff in that short trip to Thailand was that, Cerge was well-loved by his staff. I saw him working feverishly in his room at the Sofitel Hua Hin. When I beg to leave the room, he told me to stay in order for me to see him in action. Later after our causal dinner, we dropped him at Sofitel, but he was met by an aide who told him that the President needed his presence and he tag me along to say hello to the President.

There’s so much to talk about the life and times we had with Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, but I would rather end this with a prayer. Oh Lord God Most High! Receive the soul of thy servant Cerge Remonde and may the Holy Angels lead him to the side of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ so he can finally have a well-earned Eternal Rest. All powerful and merciful God, we commend the soul of Cerge Remonde to your infinite love and divine mercy.

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