Filipino artists extol Letty Magsanoc

FILIPINO artists have nothing but kind words for Philippine Daily Inquirer editor in chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc who passed away on Christmas Eve.

Singer-host Lea Salonga recalled how Magsanoc, through her daughter, asked her to write weekly column for the paper’s entertainment section.

“Before I had faith that this was something I could actually accomplish, you already had faith in me,” Salonga said in her Facebook post for “Tita Letty.”

“For this (and for the people I got to work with regularly at PDI — Emmie Velarde and Bayani San Diego) thank you, for your trust, and your believing in me. I won’t ever forget you,” she added.

Salonga also told Inquirer Entertainment’s Bayani San Diego, “Oh how her faith in me went up a step when she entrusted a front page article to me. Pressure!”

Script-writer Ricky Lee described Magsanoc as “a rare-writer-editor who combines courage always with humanity and compassion.”

For award-winning actress Nora Aunor, Magsanoc is someone who is “kind, a great writer, and a loving friend.”

“Bigla  naman po akong nalungkot sa balita. Ngayon pa namang ipinagdiriwang natin ang kapanganakan  ng ating Panginoon,” she said in a statement to Inquirer.

“Isang kawalan na naman sa industriya ang kanyang pagpanaw. Sa lahat ng kanyang mga naiwan lalo na sa kanyang pamilya, ang aking taos sa pusong pakikiramay,” Aunor added. With reports from Bayani San Diego