By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – Former National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) chair Jose Jaime “Nonoy” Espina passed away here at age 59 evening of July 7, 2021.
According to his sister Inday Espina-Varona, Nonoy died peacefully and quietly surrounded by family around 9:20 p.m.
Varona said that her brother, who recently survived a severe infection of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), succumbed to liver cancer.
Nonoy Espina was a veteran journalist and an unflinching press freedom advocate.
Varona said that Nonoy preferred to mostly practice his journalism in their home province Negros Occidental.
“Like many journalists, he was materially poor. But in his devotion to the profession and our people he was – as Danny Fabella said – hindi pangkaraniwang tao,” Varona said.
In a statement, NUJP described Espina as a press freedom hero worthy of admiration and emulation.
“He was a tireless champion for the freedom of the press and the welfare of media workers,” the group said.
NUJP said Nonoy was always compassionate with colleagues, especially in the provinces.
Nonoy was among the loudest voices at rallies in support of the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise. He even led a march in Quezon City in March 2020 and later joined similar activities here.
He was also among the first responders at the Ampatuan Massacre in Maguindanao in 2009 and was vocal in the campaign for justice for the victims, which included 32 media workers.
He was also present in commemorations and activities leading up to the verdict in 2019.
A journalist since high school, he was an editor of Pagbutlak, the official student publication of UP Visayas in Iloilo City.
He later became part of community media group Correspondents, Broadcasters and Reporters Association—Action News Service, or COBRA-ANS, which was part of the “mosquito press” during the Marcos era, according to the NUJP.
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) honored Nonoy with the Marcelo H. Del Pilar Award, the highest honor that the organization gives its alumni.
In its citation, CEGP called Nonoy “without doubt, a leading force in the defense of press freedom and freedom of expression in the country today.”
Espina was also a correspondent of the defunct Today Newspaper and worked for a time in the Lifestyle magazine of The Manila Standard.
He also became an editor of the online news outfits Inquirer.net and Interaksyon.
NUJP thanked him for his long years of service to the union and the profession and promises to honor him by protecting that prestige.
The NUJP said that Nonoy left them with lessons and fond memories, as well as the words he often used in statements: “That the press is not free because it is allowed to be. It is free because it insists on being free.”
The Negros Press Club (NPC) also paid homage to Nonoy, son of the late NPC president Rolando “Rolly” Espina who was also a member of the NPC.
“We express our deepest condolences to the Espina family,” the NPC said in a statement.
