MANILA, Philippines – Cesar Apolinario is a master storyteller, having spent his professional career in television, from cameraman to reporter to documentarist to film maker.

There isn’t a story in this world that Cesar has not written: from war, to calamity, to crime, to the prices of vegetables in the public market and – who can forget – to the inumans of Manila’s underbelly that he “raided” while hooked to a live broadcast equipment, making anchors giggle at his antics, and viewers finding the joy in otherwise depressing nightly news.

Cesar died on Friday, December 13, after battling lymphoma. He was 46.

In his death, he is remembered not only for his reportage, but for the kindness he showed everyone he met in and outside of the newsroom.

Life story

Cesar’s own life is colorful, a classic rags-to-riches story he told with pride. 

His father was a latero (tinsmith) and his mother a housewife who had to raise 8 children. They grew up in a shanty with no door, Cesar liked to say.

He became an overseas worker in Bahrain before he was able to afford tuition at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) where he finished a degree in Communication Arts. He started out as a cameraman for GMA 7’s i-Witness, before he became a news reporter. 

“Hindi porke’t mahirap ka ay wala ka nang karapatan na tumalino. Ang pangarapin nila ngayon ay yumaman ang kaalaman nila para marami silang mai-inspire,” Cesar told GMA 7 anchor Mel Tiangco in a Powerhouse episode in 2015.

(Just because you’re poor doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to be smart. People should dream to enrich their knowledge so they can inspire others.)

He liked to tell his story to inspire. It didn’t matter who he told it to, but he especially liked telling it to new faces in the newsroom, whether you’re a producer or a production assistant.

“We talked about overcoming poverty, being positive, and never giving up. Our little chat happened when I was fairly new on the job, fresh off college and felt like no one. I’m certain he had better things to do that day but he chose to listen to my story instead. His gesture made me feel a little bigger, a little more seen and made me believe I was a little more important than what I originally thought,” Stacy de Jesus, formerly of the GMA News Social Media Team, said on on Facebook.

#SalamatCesar

Cesar was one of the first who jumped on to Twitter. He was tweeting before tweeting was cool. And because of that, he was also among the first ones to feel the burn of social media.

But he never faltered in his belief on the internet’s power of social good, being one of the the most ardent supporters of GMA’s YouScoop and its social media innovations after the 2010 automated elections.

He would spend as much energy on writing Facebook posts – mostly behind the scenes of his coverage – as he did on his scripts for 24 Oras. This is because he believed the more people the story reaches, the better.

So he ventured into writing articles for GMA News Online. The ever humble Cesar, he would smoke at the GMA Gazebo and approach people passing by (which means everyone, as he was friends with everyone) and ask them to check his grammar, or whether his sentence read nicely.

“Hindi kasi ako gaano magaling magEnglish, beh (I’m not very good at English),” he would say, and would passionately tell the story of how he approached the people of the online platform to have his story published. “Ikaw din, magsulat ka (Write too),” he’d push.

Generosity

Cesar was a very generous journalist. He would give you his contacts without batting an eyelash. He would turn every random chitchat into a brainstorming session. For an added push, he would end every conversation with praises.

He loved his i-Juander kids. He would brag about them every time he got the chance.

“Last week nga sa hospital ang lakas-lakas mo pa. At kahit nasa hospital bed ka, hindi ka pa rin naubusan ng tawa at kuwento. Nagpropose ka pa ng istorya (You were still strong at the hospital last week. And even though you were at the hospital bed, you still had so much laughter and stories. You even pitched a story)!?” said Stephen Patricio in a  Facebook post.

Patricio is the executive producer of i-Juander, a multi-awarded show on GMA News TV that Cesar co-hosted with Susan Enriquez,  which tackles Filipino history, culture, and psyche.

“Sa mahigit 8 taon nating pagsasama damang-dama namin bakit naging ‘Mr.Frienship’ ang palayaw mo. Para nga sa akin ‘Mr.Thoughtful’ ka pa nga dahil lahat na lang na meron ka…gulay, blender, pagkain, regalo at kung anu-ano pa – laging kang nakakaalala,” Patricio said.

(In the 8 years I’ve known you, I truly felt the reasons why your nickname is Mr Friendship. For me, you’re Mr Thoughtful, you always remember us and gift us everything from vegetables, to blenders, to food.)

Passion for stories

Another thing that got Cesar going was when his stories were dropped from the lineup. He found it difficult to let go.

It was not his airing time he was concerned about, but his subjects. “Oras nila iyon beh eh, ‘di ba (I took up their time),” he would rant.

GMA 7 producer Anamarie Fuderanan also shared on Facebook how during one hectic typhoon coverage, Cesar made sure that he would get help for a family stranded on the roof of their house. 

“Nahihilo na sila sa kahahanap sa ‘yo dahil hindi mo pa navo-voice ang story mo na mataas ang take. Ang hindi nila alam ang cause of delay – ako. Ang kagustuhan mong matulungan ang mga taong 4 na araw nang hindi kumakain at nanginginig sa lamig dahil nasa bubong sila ng mga bahay nila sa sobrang taas ng baha,” Fuderanan said.

(They were getting headaches looking for you because you haven’t voiced your story yet, which was at the top of the lineup. They didn’t know that I was the cause of delay. You wanted to help a family who had not eaten for 4 days and were shivering on their roof because the floods were too high.)

Often, he would find a way to re-craft his reports so they were not outdated.

“Na-miss ko ang work. Parang nakakabaliw kapag hindi mo ginagawa ang love mong gawin (I miss work. It drives me crazy not doing the thing I love),” Cesar once texted GMA 7’s Allaine Francisco, after coming back from sick leave in September.

Francisco also shared on Facebook how Cesar still came back to work a few more days in November despite having lymphoma.

Cesar’s friends and colleagues from GMA 7 want to use the hashtag #SalamatCesar for all the posts, which have flooded Facebook and Twitter since Friday.

Another thing that fascinated Cesar: trending posts.

Cesar would probably be amused (but we’re sure, feel na feel din niya if ever) how he was media’s social media’s trending topic.

It showed that apart from journalism, the thing he loved truly, his kindness and generosity are also his lasting legacies.

We would try our best to make #SalamatCesar trend. We know it would make you smile. Thank you for telling stories of the Filipino people. Let us tell stories about you now.

Rest in peace, Direk. – Rappler.com