Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, 51, passes away

(Update 3 - 7:49 p.m.) Press Secretary Cerge Remonde was pronounced dead at the Makati Medical Center (MMC) at 11:51 a.m. Tuesday, official sources said. He was 51. "Isang malungkot na balita. Kaninang 11:51 ng umaga ang ating kalihim Sec. Remonde ay binawian ng buhay," (Sad news. At 11:51 this morning, Sec. Remonde passed away) Press Undersecretary for Operations Romeo Junia said. Remonde's personal staff found him unconscious in the bathroom of his home in Bel-Air Village in Makati and brought him to the hospital, Junia said. "Secretary Cerge Remonde was brought to the emergency department of the MMC at about 11:20 this morning. He was unconscious, he was not breathing, no heartbeat. We were there to resuscitate him. Despite heroic measures, he expired at 11:51," head of the MMC's patient relations office Dr. Eric Nubla told reporters at the hospital. In an interview on government-run Radyo ng Bayan (dzRB), Remonde's personal physician Dr. Anthony Leachon said the press secretary underwent a surgical spine operation in 2007. Leachon said he began to closely monitor Remonde's health condition during the holidays. Asked what could have been the cause of his patient's death, Leachon said, "Sa tingin ko cardiac arrest secondary to myocardial infarction ... Baka nagkaroon siya ng irregular heartbeat na naging cause ng pagkamatay niya." (I think it was cardiac arrest secondary to myocardial infarction...He could have had irregular heartbeat, which became the cause of his death.) Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had been informed about Remonde's death, adding, “We are all in grief with the passing away of our beloved friend, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde. It was a very untimely passing away of Cerge." "The staff at OPS and in Malacañang are doing everything to make the appropriate arrangements from the time that the remains are taken over by the funeral parlor of Heritage in the Makati Medical Center...while we are awaiting the arrival of Mrs. Remonde, the remains will (stay) at Heritage tonight," Ermita added. Remonde's wife, Marit Stinus Remonde, arrived in Manila before 3 p.m., Tuesday. She flew from her husband’s home province of Cebu. Mrs. Remonde, a Danish national, arrived at the Aboitiz Hangar of the Manila Domestic Airport in Pasay City and immediately went to the MMC to see her husband's remains. Junia said there was no indication that Remonde, who was used to a heavy workload, was ill. "Kagabi (Last night), we were working late at the office, we had a late dinner and routine work at the office. We stayed until 9 p.m. There was no sign he was under any kind of physical condition that was threatening," he added. He also said it was unlikely that Remonde's trip to Cebu last weekend to attend the Sinulog festival caused his death, saying Remonde had been attending the festivities yearly. At high risk However, Remonde's personal physician said the official had been suffering from diabetes and hypertension prior to his death. Leachon said Remonde’s cigarette-smoking habit also affected his health. “Medyo mataas ang kaniyang risk factors. Eight out of 10 ang kaniyang risk factors," Leachon told dzBB. (His risk factor was high. His risk factor was eight out of 10) He added that Remonde suffered from cardiac arrest at about 9:30 a.m. and was found unconscious in his bathroom an hour later. Had Remonde been rushed earlier, he would have survived, Leachon said. “Kung mga isang oras siya sa banyo, malaking bagay ho iyon. Dapat mga five to 20 minutes na oxygenation (puwedeng mabuhay) pero kung isang oras, imposible," the doctor said. (It was impossible for him to survive because nobody was able to attend to him one hour after he fell unconscious. He could have been saved had he been attended to within five to 20 minutes.) According to information reaching Leachon, Remonde had asked for a cigarette before he went inside the bathroom, where he was found unconscious. KBP chairman Last Monday night, Remonde posted the following prayer as his Facebook status update: “Lord, thank you for your infinite love that meets our every need and provides all the beautiful and wonderful things we experience in life. Release our hearts and minds from fear and worry. Fill us with your peace as we learn to fully trust in your providence. Help us to do all that we are capable of and the rest we entrust unto you. Amen." Remonde assumed the post of Press Secretary in February 2009, after serving as Director General of the Presidential Management Staff for more than two years. He joined the administration of President Arroyo in 2001 and worked in various government-owned media agencies including NBN 4, RPN 9, IBC 13, Radyo ng Bayan, Bureau of Communication Services, and the Philippine News Agency. A native of Cebu, Remonde served for a long time as chairman of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas. Herman Bastaño, president of KBP, issued the following statement: "KBP mourns with deep sorrow the demise of Secretary Remonde, who had distinguished himself as the only KBP chair who had served for six consecutive terms. His death is not only a big loss to the broadcast industry but to the country whom he has really served with utmost dedication. One of his many accomplishments with KBP is to institutionalize the training of its provincial chapter officers. With what he initiated, the KBP now has a good crop of future leaders. The KBP leadership and its members will definitely miss him." Longtime friend and colleague Pablito “Bobby" Nalzaro of RGMA-7 Visayas described Remonde as a “mentor, a brother, and a compadre rolled into one." In an interview with radio dzBB, he added: “Parang ordinaryo lang. Kumakain kami niyan sa tabi-tabi. Kahit nung naging press secretary niya, hindi pa rin siya nagbago, hindi naman nagkakape sa class na coffee shop." (He was just an ordinary person. We ate in ordinary restaurants. He did not change even when he became a press secretary. We did not have coffee at expensive coffee shops.) Nalzaro said the last time he saw Remonde was last Sunday, during the Sinulog festival in Cebu. He said Remonde told him that he was planning to go back to mainstream media either in Manila or Cebu after the Arroyo administration steps down in June. Gabriel Claudio, former presidential political affairs adviser, said Remonde was "devoted to his job and determined to do his best in achieving the objectives of his office," he said in a text message. "He was a good man and a true friend, compassionate, loyal, appreciative of others' talents and accomplishments, and carried an infectious sense of humor and positive disposition," Claudio's text message added. "It's going to be difficult to realize and understand that he's gone." A good sport On November 30 last year, Remonde displayed undeniable sportsmanship when he showed up at a rally by journalists and militants in Mendiola despite loud boos from the protesters. Video footage of the incident showed the late press secretary smiling amid the insults thrown at him. The militants and journalists then were protesting the alleged "culture of impunity" that they blamed for the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province. Remonde personally reached out to the protesters to reassure them that the government is working to bring justice to victims of the massacre. - Sophia Dedace/ARCS/MM/CBS/YA/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV