Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The wake for multi-awarded journalist Aries Rufo, who died of cardiac arrest on Saturday afternoon at the age of 45, started at 3 a.m. on Sunday (September 20) at the Imperial Classic Chapel at La Funeraria Paz on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City.
A mass was also scheduled for 7 p.m. of the same day.
Miriam Grace Go, news editor of Rappler, where Rufo was a senior investigative reporter, posted the announcement on the Facebook account of The Times — that is, the Manila Times where Rufo started his career as a journalist in the early 1990s, when the paper was still owned by the Gokongweis.
After the Times — which the Gokongweis gave up in 1999 — Rufo moved on to Newsbreak, a news and current affairs magazine that later shifted to an online-only format.
According to an article posted by Rappler on Saturday evening, Rufo spent a decade with Newsbreak “covering the church, the judiciary, politics, where he honed his investigative skills.”
Rufo wrote a controversial book, Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church, which was published in 2013.
He also co-authored The Enemy Within, a book on corruption in the Philippine military, with Glenda Gloria, Rappler managing editor, and Gemma Bagayaua-Mendoza, Rapple head of Research & Content Strategy.
Among Rufo’s awards is the Lorenzo Natali Award in 2008, for his Newsbreak piece, “A cry for justice in the Philippines,” about the murder of judges in the country.
In 2004, Rufo, along with Rappler news editor Go, placed third in the Asian Development Bank in its Developing Asia Journalism Awards held in Tokyo.
Rufo was also a recipient of the Jaime V Ongpin Award in 2004 for his work, “Sins of the Father.”
