Remembering Tata Jose Capadocia

THE Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club said a silent prayer (led by lawyer Delmar Cariño) on Black Saturday in memory of Press undersecretary Jose Capadocia, who died a year ago in the mountains of the Cordilleras.

The covering team for the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was heartbroken when it found out that “Tata Jo” was among those who perished in the ill-fated chopper crash.

“To this day, we remember the man who became our friend, father and confidant,” Cariño said.

This is a reprint of the tribute for Tata Jo, written teary eyed and with a heavy heart last year.

For Tata Jo… may you always stay in our hearts.

Mourning for “Morning Morning”

Baguio City - Morning! Morning!

The phrase coined in years ago by Press Undersecretary Jose Capadocia during a cold News Year’s Day Sagada presidential trip with members of the Baguio media in tow, six years ago.

Icy cold tap water and a rough road trip was enough to deaden the senses of the covering team but surprisingly Press Usec. Jose Capadocia or “Tata Jo” was his usual funnily stern self, making us laugh despite the back and butt pains from the eight-hour journey with his deadpan expression and deep “Morning, morning!” on the day of the coverage.

After that trip every time the president was in Baguio he would greet us with a jolly “Morning, morning! His way of making us feel special, that we shared a secret, when other reporters would ask what it meant, he would say “Di niyo alam yun, para sa mga taga Baguio lang yan.”

I met Jocap at the CJH CAP convention center in 2004 back when I had my small Kodak EasyShare camera and was grappling for space to take a photo of the President. He stared me straight in the face and led me to the front of the line, saying I should crouch when he signals, then he winked.

I didn’t get clear shots that day but I gained a friend.

When the news of the missing chopper broke early Tuesday night last week, our media team was in Bontoc Mountain Province getting ready to leave early the next morning to cover the president at Banaue, Ifugao we were hoping against hope that Tata Jo was not there.

Past midnight, when I heard my bunkmate reported that Tata Jo was on board; I couldn’t sleep but didn’t want to talk, nor think of scenarios.

The pain and the stress we experienced while covering the tragedy is inexplicable, every update weakened our hearts.

The drama of the frantic search for the missing presidential helicopter ended last week with the chief executive breaking down in tears as she sent off the seven coffins of her closest staff.

The staff of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was declared missing after taking off from Baguio City Tuesday afternoon en route to Banuae, Ifugao to conduct an ocular inspection there for the President’s supposed visit Wednesday there last week aboard the Bell 412 aircraft.

Tata Jo with Presidential Appointments Secretary Marilou Frostrom, Senior Military Aide to the President Brigadier General Carlos Clet, Presidential Management Staff Asst. Director Perlita Bandayanon with pilot Major Rolando Sacatani, co-pilot Captain Alvin Alegata, Clet’s aide Quarter Master 3rd Class Demelyn Reyno, and crewman Sergeant Rohegem Perez all perished.

The wreckage of the presidential helicopter was found in Tinoc, Ifugao, and Tuesday while flying in foul weather.

Chief management staff, Hermogenes Esperon reported their bodies were partly charred and dismembered.

Esperon said an investigating team organized by Commanding General Oscar Ravena will determine the cause of the fatal incident.

President Arroyo conferred on Friday the Presidential Medal of Merit on the eight victims of the ill-fated presidential chopper. The award was meant to formally recognize the victims’ dedication “to serve the Presidency and the Republic far beyond the call of duty.”

Tata Jo began with a career in 1974 during Martial law; he is survived by his widow, Assistant Secretary Marita Sapitula Capadocia of the Office of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo; and their two children and seven grandchildren.

For Tata Jo, my mornings will never be the same “Morning, morning!”

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