DAVAO CITY – President Duterte flew here from Malacanang to visit the wake of the photojournalist who covered him for four decades, from his stint as city prosecutor to winning the presidency.
The President arrived at the Davao Cosmopolitan Funeral House at 9:45 pm and spent the next one and a half hours with the family and friends gathered for the wake of Rene Lumawag, the Davao photojournalist who followed him from the steps of city hall here and all the way to Malacañang, where Lumawag served as one of the Presidential photographers.
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, who accompanied the President said they came all the way here from Malacanang—passing by Zamboanga City—just to visit Lumawag.
In 2016, during his exhibit, “Rody Duterte, through the years,” Lumawag once described his fascination with the man who had become a household name among the people of Davao.
He recalled the first time he caught a glimpse of the then government prosecutor in 1985, parking a light blue Volkswagen Beetle by the roadside during the Yellow Friday Movement march.
The young prosecutor would later be appointed as vice mayor during the administration of former President Corazon Aquino.
Lumawag, who would have turned 75 this year, passed away at a hospital here, surrounded by family and friends.
Members of the Camera Club of Davao also mourned his passing.
“Our chasing sunrises and sunsets will no longer be the same because you’re no longer with us,” said Fr. Banny Pardillo, who found a passion for photography as he joined the Camera Club of Davao, a group founded by, among others, Lumawag.
Another CCD member, Architect Anthony Serafin, described Lumawag as someone who easily puts people at ease.
“He can joke with people on the streets, he easily talks with vendors and with presidents and kings.” (Editor: Gilbert S. Gaviola)