MANILA, Philippines - The country lost a principled journalist and a freedom fighter with the passing of STAR columnist and Philippine Legion of Honor awardee William "Billy" Esposo.
"We grieve for the family of Philippine Star columnist and veteran journalist Billy Esposo..." former senator Ramon "Jun" Magsaysay Jr. said in a statement.
Magsaysay remembers Esposo as a "taong may paninindigan."
"We lost a good man, a principled journalist and a freedom fighter, being supportive of reforms in our government since the Cory Aquino administration. Billy stood for democracy," said Magsaysay, who is seeking a fresh term in the Senate in the upcoming May elections.
Esposo, whose column "As I Wreck This Chair" was regularly published in The Philippine Star, died of heart failure on Sunday at the Makati Medical Center. He was 64.
Burial is scheduled on Thursday.