Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) — Gabino Tabuñar Jr., who was among the founders of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), has died, the group confirmed Tuesday. He was 94.
FOCAP said that its founder died Tuesday at 1:59 p.m. at the Makati Medical Center after a bout with pneumonia.
The association said Tabuñar died in the presence of his children after a priest said final prayers and after he heard his favorite song “Summer Wind,” by Frank Sinatra.
His eldest daughter, Mao, said, “He loved his country and he had lots of hope for this country but sometimes muttered, ‘It takes a long time for us Filipinos to know what’s good for us.”
FOCAP remembered their founder as “a true friend to many, a father and mentor to countless journalists.”
Al Jazeera correspondent Jamela Alindogan said Tabunar’s death is “such a huge loss.”
“He was a calming, unifying figure. We fell orphaned at in FOCAP,” Alindogan said.
Tabuñar’s remains will be laid for viewing at the Loyola Guadalupe starting Wednesday.
He was a pharmaceutical company executive before working as a correspondent for CBS News.
