Negros Occidental media stalwart dies; 79

BACOLOD CITY—Primo Esleyer, considered a media stalwart in Negros Occidental, died on Wednesday after a long bout with liver cirrhosis. He was 79.

Esleyer, Visayan Daily Star board chair, succumbed at 3:41 p.m. at Doctor Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital here.

Esleyer served as president of the Negros Press Club (NPC) for four terms and was past president of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative.

He was a member of the board of trustees of Bacolod City College and Negros State College of Agriculture, president of Kabisig, board chair of Sunshine Channel, and member of both the Regional Trial Court mediation board and the National Federation of Sugar Planters.

NPC president Elmer Ubaldo said he and the other club officials were saddened by the demise of one of the pillars of the local media industry.

Esleyer “was not only a colleague but also a mentor to most of us and is a great loss to the club,” Ubaldo said.

Esleyer is survived by his children—Steve, Bambi and Josie—and grandchildren—Primo Archie, Stevenzon, Skitt, Nina Joyce and Jason Brian. His wife, Fe, died in 2002. Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas