Ondoy victims include David Fernando, Smart's co-founder

Besides claiming the lives of hundreds, the storm Ondoy also cut short the life of David Fernando, co-founder of Smart Communications Inc. Fernando was crushed to death when a wall fell on him at the height of Ondoy’s onslaught on Saturday at his residence at the exclusive Loyola Grand Villas subdivision in Quezon City. Fernando was said to have been urged by a house companion to check out the waters that had crept in and later inundated his house between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Saturday, Smart Communications public affairs head Ramon Isberto said in a phone interview. “Malas lang talaga na nung lumabas siya, sakto namang bumigay yung perimeter wall dahil lumambot na yung lupa dahil sa ulan [It was bad luck that he ventured out just as the perimeter wall gave way, because the ground had already softened due to the rain]," Isberto said. Fernando, called Dave by people who knew him, was not an employee of Smart at the time of his death. “But, we’ve been working with him with different projects," according to Isberto. Together with Orlando “Doy" Vea, Fernando co-founded Smart in 1991 before deciding to sell the fledgling company to telco giant PLDT a few years later. Both Vea and Fernando put up their own companies after the PLDT deal. Vea decided to become a venture capitalist while Fernando formed his group of IT companies, among them Infinit-e and NextStage. [Vea has gone back to Smart as its “chief wireless advisor."] Fernando also became active in industry organization such as the Philippine Electronics and Telecommunications Federation (Petef) which he served as president for a time. A former and long-time colleague at Petef, Olegario Serafica, described Fernando as an industry pioneer and visionary who was enthusiastic in exploring new grounds. “When he learned that I was the president of the Renewable Energy Association of the Philippines, he proposed and actually invested in some projects as a way to find alternative sources for the country and become a pioneer again in this field," Olegario, an electronics engineer like Fernando, said in a phone interview. As an active practitioner, Fernando was also very vocal in his opinions on various industry issues. When the NBN-ZTE controversy broke out, Serafica said he remembered Fernando pushing for its cancellation and that the project should be given instead to the private sector. Cynthia R. Mamon, also a former president of PETEF, said Fernando was a “man with a good heart" and that the country lost a precious advocate of technology. Fernando’s wake is currently being held at Christ the King Church in Green Meadows, Quezon City. Interment is scheduled on Saturday after the 9 a.m. mass. - GMANews.TV