BACOLOD CITY – Former National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) chairman Jose Jaime Espina passed away here Wednesday, July 7.
This was announced by his sister Inday Espina-Varona on Facebook, saying that his 59-year-old brother died peacefully and quietly surrounded by family at 9:20 p.m.
Espina, fondly called by colleagues as “Nonoy,” died of liver cancer and just recently, survived a severe COVID-19 infection, according to Varona.
Espina, a veteran journalist, was a correspondent of the defunct TODAY newspaper and worked for a time in the lifestyle magazine of the Manila Standard.
He also was an editor of the online news outfits Inquirer.net and Interaksyon.
NUJP, in a statement, described Espina as a press freedom hero worthy of admiration and emulation.
He was among the first responders in the Maguindanao Massacre in 2009 and was vocal in the campaign for justice for the victims, which included 32 media workers, and was present at commemorations and activities leading up to the verdict in 2019, the NUJP said.
He was also part of the community media group Correspondents, Broadcasters, and Reporters Association-Action News Service (COBRA-ANS) which was part of the "mosquito press" during the Marcos era, the group said.
NUJP thanked Espina for his long years of service to the union and the profession and promised to honor him by protecting that prestige.
The Negros Press Club (NPC) paid homage to Nonoy, son of the late NPC president Rolando "Rolly" Espina, and also a member of the NPC. “We express our deepest condolences to the Espina family, the NPC said in a statement.