I will always cherish my memories of Press Secretary Cerge Remonde not because of his high position in the Philippine government but because of his friendship.

Yes, I have always considered and will always consider Cerge as my true friend despite his demise because I know that he too had always counted me as his true friend.

When he was appointed press secretary by President Arroyo in February last year, I purposely avoided going to his office or calling him by phone because I told myself he might be so busy that he had no more time for small talk.

But in a few weeks after his assumption of office, he sent a text message practically scolding me for not visiting him. He reminded me that I was one of his few real friends in Manila. (He grew up and lived in Cebu, and he went to reside in Metro Manila only when Gloria Arroyo became President in the wake of the ouster of Joseph Estrada.)

In a few days after I received his text, I invited him to attend my birthday party at my house in Bacoor, Cavite.

He told me he was not sure if he could make it because he had a hectic schedule on that day, but he added, “I will try my best.”

Understanding his situation, I did not expect that he would come. But at about 10 p.m. of that day while the party was going on, somebody tapped my shoulder, and he was Cerge. “Padre, I have to be here; I skipped a meeting in Makati just to be able to greet you personally on your birthday,” he told me.

My brotherly relationship with Cerge started when he was still a broadcaster-newsman in Cebu way back in the 1980s. I was the provincial news editor of the Manila Bulletin, and he was one of Bulletin’s news correspondents. He submitted news reports, and later he wrote a column (Dateline Cebu) in the provincial news section.

He seldom came to Manila, and when he did he stayed at the Bayview Hotel near the US Embassy. He would call me, and we would have a few rounds of beer while discussing events and issues in Cebu.

In 1992, Cerge, Jay Sonza, Ross Manlangit, Bob Saldon, Ding Gagelonia and I, all journalists, were beneficiaries of the US international visitors program. For one month, we traveled all over the US, visiting interesting places such as Lincoln, Nebraska; New Orleans; Jackson, Mississippi; Honolulu, Hawaii; Washington D.C.; and New York City.

To enable us to economize in expenses, Cerge and I shared hotel room in all the places we visited. In my capacity as head of the delegation (I was then president of the National Press Club of the Philippines), I appointed Cerge as spokesman of the group because he had a good command of verbal English.

In New York City, Cerge and I sampled the pleasure of the theater entertainment when we watched in Broadway “Miss Saigon” then starring Lea Salonga. In Washington D.C., Cerge and I visited the National Press Club building where we took dinner together with an American club officer who briefed us on NPC’s projects.

In the Philippines, whenever I visited Cebu, Cerge and his wife Marit (who hails from Finland) took care of me. One Yuletide season, he and Marit were my guests at a party in my house in Cavite. I remembered asking Cerge to speak before the other guests and neighbors on the significance of Christmas, and he obliged.

Yes, I treasure these memories of a true friend. Farewell, my friend Cerge, farewell. I will miss your friendship.

My grief over your demise is somehow relieved as I recall the last line of Jose Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” which states “murir es descansar (to die is to rest).” Yes, my friend, the Creator has called you, and it’s time for you to rest.