Palace expresses ‘profound shock’ over the death of Isagani Yambot

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Friday expressed “profound shock” over the passing of Inquirer publisher Isagani Yambot.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said Yambot passed away “when the newspaper he had worked with for so long, was enjoying unparalleled public trust and popularity.”

Below is Valte’s full statement:

“We believe it is no exaggeration to say the entire fourth estate wished Isagani Yambot well, as he underwent cardiac bypass surgery. It has come as a profound shock to hear his bereaved family announce his passing. He writes 30 at a time when the newspaper he had worked with for so long, was enjoying unparalleled public trust and popularity.

“Isagani Yambot was a newsman in the no-holds-barred days before martial law, and continued in the profession in the oppressive martial law years; he was one of the links with the pre-martial law press who mentored a new generation of journalists to understand just how much a free press matters, and who stood shoulder to shoulder with his peers each and every time free speech came under attack after EDSA.

“He was a calm, cheerful presence not only in the newsroom and boardroom of his paper, but in every gathering of note among journalists and between media, civil society, and government. His was a voice of passion yet reason; the loss of his presence will be felt deeply by a nation that knows all a newsman can ask for, in the end, is this simple epitaph: he wrote it, as he saw it, with honest words and with his only master, the truth.”

Officials and people whose lives he touched paid tribute to Yambot on Twitter.