Mongaya: Outpouring for Cerge

THE outpouring of people especially from the media industry and political leaders at the wake and burial of the late press secretary Cerge Remonde showed how he lived his life as a media leader and as chief publicist of the Arroyo administration.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro saluted beside the casket containing the body of Cerge while 21 gunshots boomed in the background at the Argao Public Cemetery yesterday afternoon.

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I know many more government officials and politicians from different political camps also came to show their affection, respect and gratitude for Cerge. But from where I stood inside the cemetery, I saw Gov. Gwen Garcia standing beside President Arroyo. A few meters away from her stood her rival and Liberal Party gubernatorial bet Jun-Jun Davide. Then there was Undersecretary Butch Junia, Rep. Tony Cuenco and Tourism boss Ace Durano.

Cebu’s top journalists led by Sun.Star Cebu editor in chief Pachico Seares and columnist Bobby Nalzaro were there at the wake inside the Malacañang sa Sugbo and during the burial rites in Argao along with almost everybody else from the local media.

Notably, politicians and supporters from different political camps came to pay their last respects for Cerge. Supporters of various presidential bets like Gilbert Teodoro and Sen. Noynoy Aquino freely mingled at the wake and during the burial. Former president Erap Estrada himself visited the Malacañang sa Sugbo late Friday night.

Last Saturday after the body of Cerge arrived in Argao, supporters of Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas, in bright yellow shirts, visited the wake to pay their respects, said Mayor Edsel Galeos.

According to Mayor Galeos, all sectors in Argao came out to help in the preparation for the burial of Cerge. Noteworthy was the mayor’s success in keeping the traffic flow smooth despite the sudden huge number of vehicles filling the town’s narrow roads yesterday.

Argao now holds the distinction of having two distinguished Argawanons buried with presidents going out of their way from Malacañang. Then President Marcos attended the burial of the late congressman Isidro Kintanar in 1967.

Indeed, President Arroyo lost a valuable asset with the death of Cerge Remonde. Though the president’s popularity plummeted further after he assumed the position as press secretary, Cerge was able to maintain his good relations with the largely critical media.

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Ever since he began his career during his late teens, Cerge had his way of relating with media colleagues that won the affection of veteran and young journalists alike.

During the late Marcos years, the young Remonde quickly became buddies with the veterans as he carved a name for himself as an anti-Marcos crusader. He was one who readily lent a hand for colleagues in need.

I could particularly remember Cerge accompanying my father Doroy late in the evening when he visited me inside the Metrodiscom stockade in January 1985. I was a political detainee together with eight other youths for two days.

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Liberal Party vice presidential bet Mar Roxas expressed elation at the massive turnout of supporters during the party’s weekend sortie in various venues in Cebu. This came after Visayas governors threw their support for the administration’s standard bearer Gibo Teodoro.

In Tuburan alone, some 17,000 went out to greet Noynoy, said LP mayoralty candidate Aljun Diamante. While Gibo wowed the crowd during the presidential forum at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), Noynoy went out to directly meet voters in Argao, Toledo, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu.

The Liberals remained unfazed by the continuing rise of Sen. Manny Villar in the surveys. Aside from Villar’s massive use of expensive ads, he has to do some damage control at the Senate, and deal with local political leaders who would be waiting for manna before doing anything else.

The latest SWS survey that favored Villar showed results if the fight is one-on-one. But the presidential race is not a one-on-one affair. The Supreme Court, for example, has given former president Joseph Estrada the go signal for his presidential run.

His camp now expects Erap to rise from number three to number one in the surveys.

With the assurance of support by local leaders, Gibo likewise is far from giving up the fight. According to a Malacañang source, they expect him to maintain his climb in the surveys. When the campaign period begins in February, Gibo should be hitting 15 percent, he said.

Meanwhile, the Liberals likewise busied themselves with their nationwide sorties to maintain the leading position of their standard-bearers.

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