President Aquino visits wake of Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc

Photo by Marc Cayabyab/INQUIRER.net

President Benigno Aquino III on Monday afternoon arrived at the wake of the esteemed Inquirer editor in chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig.

He arrived around 4:30 p.m. and gave a silent prayer before LJM’s urn.

Aquino also talked with LJM’s husband Dr. Carlos Magsanoc and their daughter Kara.

Inquirer chair Marixi Rufino-Prieto also arrived for the wake.

President Aquino led the outpour of sympathies from his Cabinet secretaries and allies.

Those who arrived at Monday’s wake are Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Senator Bam Aquino, Commission on Higher Education chair Patricia Licuanan, Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma, Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, and presidential spokespersons Edwin Lacierda and Abigail Valte.

Former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and beauty queen columnist Cory Quirino also paid LJM a visit.

In a statement on Christmas Day after LJM’s death, Aquino expressed shock at her sudden passing and said LJM has always spoken to him frankly.

Aquino said LJM has always been an icon for a country that is always free to express its mind.

“I am shocked by the sudden passing of Letty Jimenez Magsanoc. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and all her colleagues in the Philippine Daily Inquirer at this time of profound sadness and loss. She was, to me, and all Filipinos of goodwill who love freedom, democracy, and good governance, a source of strength. One always knew that with her, the truth was the benchmark of a journalist’s efforts; and that in all that she did, there was no higher cause than the country’s welfare and that of our people.

“She always spoke to me frankly, and yet with deep understanding. To her loved ones and colleagues, you are not alone: we are all called to living up to her courageous example, one that will continue to inspire all of us to fight for freedom by ensuring we have a discerning and informed public. May she rest in peace and her example lend us strength in continuing to ensure we have a nation that is always free to speak its mind,” Aquino said.

LJM was appointed editor in chief by the Inquirer founding chair Eggy Apostol in 1991.

Before her death, she served at the Inquirer for 30 years. She was editor of the Mr. & Ms. Special Edition from 1983 to 1986 and editor in chief of the Sunday Inquirer Magazine from 1986 to 1987. She was appointed editor in chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in 1991, becoming the first woman and longest serving chief in a male-dominated newsroom.

LJM has also become an icon of press freedom during the martial law. She has attributed the Inquirer in toppling the Marcos dictatorship, saying the Inquirer is the “keeper of the Edsa flame.”

Magsanoc, one of the founders of the Inquirer, passed away last Thursday, Christmas Eve, at St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City due to cardiac arrest.