ILOILO City – The Sangguniang Panlungsod is mourning the demise of Panay News founder Daniel G. Fajardo, one of the pillars of journalism in Western Visayas.
In Resolution No. 2018-535, city councilors recognized Fajardo’s contribution to the city council “not only as publisher of Panay News but also as an active member of the Fourth Estate.”
“His passing away has brought sadness not only to the members of his family but also to the good people of Iloilo City,” read part of the resolution.
Fajardo, 72, founded Panay News in 1981 to further expand the frontiers of press freedom in the region and also hosted the popular Iloilo radio/cable television public affairs program Reklamo Publiko.
The people of the city, according to the city council, “have known his goodness and intelligence particularly in the field of print media.”
Fajardo, who served as this paper’s editor-in-chief for years, passed away on Sept. 10 at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod, presided by Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, passed the resolution during its 34th regular session on Sept. 11.
Fajardo headed the Iloilo Press Club – the oldest press club in the country – for several terms and served, too, as executive vice president of the Publishers’ Association of the Philippines.
The city council is composed of 14 members – Lyndon Acap, Joshua Alim, Lady Julie Grace Baronda, Ely Estante Jr., R Leone Gerochi, Leila Luntao, Mandrie Malabor, Plaridel Nava, Maria Irene Ong, Armand Parcon, Eduardo Peñaredondo, Liezl Joy Zulueta Salazar, Jose Efrain Treñas, and Candice Magdalane Tupas.
Fajardo’s cremated remains would be interred today at the Chapelle de Serenite et Columbarium in Bonifacio Tanza, Iloilo City after a sendoff ceremony at the Chapel of the Hills Gegato-Abecia Funeral Homes on Monfort Highway, Balabago, Jaro, Iloilo City.
Fajardo served as Chief Executive Officer of the National Book Development Board; Commissioner of the Commission on Filipino Language; and Director, Media Division, Commission on Culture and the Arts.
He was also a Philippine media delegate to the United Nations’ 50th Anniversary./PN
