PERHAPS one of the most difficult things to do is to write about a colleague who just “wrote 30” because it ends with a period and not a semicolon; simply put, it’s the finale and there are no comebacks.
It is with a certain sadness that I write this column today. A dear friend and colleague in media passed away.
Danny Fajardo, founder of Panay News, passed away quietly on Monday. He was 72 years old.
Danny Fajardo is one of the institutions of Iloilo media. In fact, he became the unifying factor of the Iloilo Press and Radio Club during the club’s turbulent years in the early ‘90s.
It was a time when the Iloilo Press and Radio Club was split into two factions with the late Teddy Sumaray as president of one and Boy Mejorada also as president of another faction.
Eventually time healed away all wounds and the Iloilo Press Club reunited as one this time, and if my memory serves me right the healing factor was Panay News founder Danny Fajardo who became the club’s president.
It just shows you the respect he exuded and in my book, to get that kind of respect you have to pay your dues.
To build Panay News from a struggling weekly newspaper three decades ago to perhaps the biggest regional newspaper in the country today is no mean feat. In fact, it’s a colossal superhuman achievement. Yes, Danny Fajardo paid his dues, make no mistake about it.
One thing that endears Panay News and Danny Fajardo to me (ok, guilty I’m biased) is his concept and editorial policy which is “to test the limits of press freedom.” As an unconventional “hippie” living on the edge, this is just fine with me.
Let me share a moment sometime in the ‘90s that still remains with me today:
We were having coffee at Jeepney Café in Intercontinental Hotel in Makati; Teddy Sumaray, DF and I’m not sure if Herbert Vego was there (it seems it’s easy to remember those who passed away than the live ones). If Herbert was not there then perhaps he was away on a date.
Anyway, DF said to me (to this day I don’t know if it was a reprimand or advice, maybe both), “Louie, you’re style is too advanced for Iloilo. You’re much better off in Manila. Come back to Iloilo when you feel they’re ready for you. Panay News will always be there.”
At that time as managing editor of the Visayan Monitor I was a brash, cocky young journalist. I just had three libel cases, one from then congressman Narcing Monfort, one from then governor Sim Griño and another one from then mayor Roding Ganzon (they were all dismissed eventually). That matter-of-fact statement from DF stuck in my mind.
I eventually left Iloilo, joined the glamorous world of advertising and fashion magazine to international NGO advocacy and never looked back.
There were other personal factors that made me “migrate” to Manila but I can definitely say that the offhand over-a-cup-of- coffee statement from DF that morning at the Hotel Intercon’s Jeepney Café was a factor.
Goodbye old friend, you will certainly be missed. Iloilo media will never be the same without you but don’t worry. With Panay News stronger than ever and always at the forefront, it’s as if you never left us.
I leave you with these lines from Elton John:
It seems to me a crime that we should age
These fragile times should never slip us by
A time you never can or shall erase …/PN
