Cerge Remonde

Cerge Mamites Remonde (December 21, 1958 – January 19, 2010) was a Filipino journalist and politician.

Early life

Cerge was born Glecerio Mamites Remonde (he later had his name legally changed to Cerge when he became famous) on December 21, 1958, to Teofilo A. Remonde and Florentina S. Mamites in barangay Lamacan, Argao, Cebu. Some people have said that Cerge was an illegitimate child, however, the truth is, it was his father, Teofilo, who was an illegitimate child. Teofilo Remonde, a bus driver, was the son of Flaviana Remonde. He married Florentina Mamites, daughter of Roman Mamites and Marta Sanchez, on June 25, 1958. Cerge was their one and only child, born six months after their marriage. Teofilo, however, died when Cerge was not yet one year old. After Cerge's father died, his mother remarried to Andres Alburo and from that marriage he had eight siblings: Asterio, Virgilio, Andres Jr., Antonieta, Hemres, Serina, Vicente and Sincero.

Educational Life

He was a graduate of the University of the Visayas where he also became professor of political science.^[1] He later served as chair of the Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines for six consecutive terms, the only chair to have ever done so.

Career

One of Remonde’s early jobs in media included being a stringer at the Philippine News Agency (PNA). He was an anchor for DYLA Interaction, a primetime news and commentary program. He eventually became National Chairman of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), and was the first KBP chair to be elected to a 6th term. In 2001, Remonde became press undersecretary in charge of broadcast and the executive director of the Radio Television Malacañang Presidential Broadcast Staff. He also became the president of IBC Channel 13 and of RPN Channel 9. He became Secretary of the Government Mass Media Group (GMMG) in 2004. In October 2006, he became the lead convener of the National Anti-Poverty Commission while still serving as Secretary of the GMMG. Later, he became Director-General of the Presidential Management Staff, and finally, on February 1, 2009, he was appointed as Press Secretary, a position he held until his death.^[2]

Professional Affiliations

Remonde is Senior Adviser to the GRP-NDF Peace Panel. He has also been chairman of several organizations: The Advertising Board of the Philippines, the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, and the Appeals Board of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). He has also been a Commissioner of the Communications Committee for UNESCO.

Some of his awards

• Most Outstanding Visayan in the field of Mass Media in 1998
• Most Outstanding Cebuano with former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. (1999).

Personal life

He was married to Danish national, Marit Stinus, he had no children.

Death

On January 19, 2010, Remonde was found slumped at his residence in Makati City and was rushed to Makati Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m. It was determined that his death was due to cardiac arrest secondary to myocardial infarction. His remains lay in state at the Heritage Park in Taguig City until Thursday, when they were taken to Malacañan Palace, before finally being flown home to his native Cebu on Friday. He was buried on January 24, 2010 at Argao Catholic Cemetery, Argao, Cebu.^[3]

References