CITY OF MALOLOS — Two Bulacan newsmen died at the start of 2019 due to lingering ailments.
Perfecto Villanueva Raymundo, a former president of the Bulacan Press Club, died on Jan. 2 at the age of 85.
On Jan. 4, Guillermo Sese Jr., Bulacan Press Club vice president for broadcast and a reporter of DZME radio, died at the age of 59.
Raymundo was one of the founders of the Bulacan Press Club, which he served for two subsequent terms as president from 1987-1991. He also had a weekly column at the newspaper Mabuhay, which was founded by the late Jose Pavia, executive director of the Philippine Press Institute who died in 2011.
A recipient of the Gawad Plaridel Lifetime Achievement Award, Raymundo is survived by his wife Lydia and children Janet, Robert, Perfecto Jr, Jennifer, Roderick, and Harold.
He was buried at the Obando public cemetery on Sunday (Jan. 6).
A former migrant worker, Sese worked as a photographer and writer for the magazines Filipino Reporter and The Leader when he returned to the country in the late 1990s.
He was also a theater performer and was cast in the movies of his friend, actor Ronnie Rickets.
Sese was buried in the family tomb at the Barasoain Catholic public cemetery on Tuesday (Jan. 8).
He is survived by his 24-year-old son, Jaroe Nielt Sese, his second wife Mavic, and three sisters. CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE/lzb