PinoyMedia Center is one with relatives, friends, and colleagues of Alexander Martin Remollino in mourning the passing of a poet and journalist who committed his life and craft to the struggle of the Filipino people. Remollino, who died at age 33, is a huge loss not only to the community of progressive artists and journalists, but to the movement for a more just and democratic society that this community serves.

Alex is of a rare breed of writers who, through poems or articles, tirelessly unearthed, documented, and gave life to the stories of the toiling Filipino masses, illuminating their innate dignity and their relation to existing exploitative and oppressive structures. While the mainstream media chased after government and business for stories  and merely reported on (and thus preserved) the status quo, Alex chased after marginalized sources—the strikers, the demonstrators, the rebels, the nationalists. As a long-time reporter of the progressive online newsmagazine Bulatlat.com, he wrote convincingly and compellingly about how government and business policies deepen poverty and disempowerment. He showed, through his journalistic work and his involvement in cultural activism, how this status quo is unacceptable to any self-respecting citizen, or journalist and artist for that matter.

PinoyMedia Center, publisher of the progressive newsmagazine Pinoy Weekly, pays the highest tribute to Alexander Martin Remollino who devoted most of his life in the grassroots-based, non-profit media, steadfast in his principles and excellent in his craft. It recognizes his distinct and invaluable contribution to the tradition of progressive, pro-people journalism. The writer-activist who was capable of enlightening and agitating the public in so many different and immeasurable ways will surely be missed.

Setyembre 7, 2010