Just a few days ago, I was pestering Dan with my phone calls, getting his summaries and asking if he could report for Balitanghali. He was his usual self, taking several missed calls before answering his phone. Ma’am Tex even texted him, saying, “Bagay sa’yo ang ringback tune mo na Walang Hanggang Paalam kasi walang hanggan din kung sumagot ka sa telepono.”
We’ve argued about this in the past but often after that, we’ve always found a way to work through our ‘katarayan’ and ‘kangaragan’ because that’s just how the newsdesk-reporter relationship goes. At the end of the day, we know that it’s just the nature of our jobs that makes us tick and makes us jump against each other.
Perhaps, what really gets Dan in trouble is his natural fieriness. He’s not the kind of person who sits in one corner and just waits for things to come his way. We know this because of his involvement in student activism and his struggle to get a good life for himself and his family. We’ve seen this in his work as a broadcast journalist, giving voice to the underprivileged, like Juliet Chavez and covering the little lives of the people wrought by flashfloods in Quezon.
For that, one could say that Dan has already lived a full life despite his young demise. I don’t think many of us could say that for ourselves. I was fortunate enough to know him and I’ll always remember him with fondness and respect.
Dan will certainly be missed, pero sabi nga ng ringback tune niya, “Kahit na magkahiwalay, tayo’y magkasama sa magkabilang dulo ng mundo.”
Paalam, Danifel. Maraming salamat sa lahat.
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