Publisher Max Soliven writes 30

Newspaper publisher Maximo "Max" Soliven of the Philippine Star passed away Friday morning while on an overseas trip in Tokyo City, Japan. Marichu Villanueva, Star news editor, confirmed the report during an interview on dzBB radio. Soliven turned 77 years old last September. He had suffered from complications of double pneumonia two months ago and spent time at the hospital. His wife Preciosa and Philippine Ambassador to Japan Domingo Siazon Jr were at the hospital at the time of Soliven's death. "We are very thankful for those early words of condolences," Villanueva said on behalf of the newspaper organization. She said Soliven's death was unexpected even though he had contracted the disease. Arrangements have been made for Soliven's body to be brought home to Manila Friday. Soliven was one of several negotiators during the standoff between rebel soldiers and government troops at the "Oakwood Mutiny" on July 27, 2003. The lawyer of former senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, a fugitive captured last week by the military for allegedly masterminding the mutiny, had earlier announced plans to summon Soliven as a witness for Honasan President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also sent her condolences to the Soliven family in a statement saying: "The nation is deeply saddened by the passage of an icon of freedom. The post-war march of Philippine democracy under a free press could not have been as vibrant without Max Soliven, who fought beside forces of enlightenment in the struggle against despotism and wrong. We grieve with his family and pray with the people for his eternal peace in palms of the Lord." Even up to the time of his death, Soliven was on the beat. His last By The Way column for his paper, which appeared on Friday, was datelined from Tokyo, Japan, and titled, in his typically detailed manner, "Is a jingoistic Japan on the rise under Abe? Or is this aging powerhouse no longer dangerous?" "It is a delight to be back in Tokyo, one of the cities of my journalistic youth, after an absence of more than five years." Thus began the column that would mark the end of a long career that started at age 20, as associate editor of the Catholic newspaper The Sentinel. From then on it was a quick rise for the Ateneo de Manila undergraduate — police and political reporter for the Manila Chronicle at 25, then business editor of The Manila Times from 1957 to 1960. At this point, he became publisher and editor, at the age of 27, of The Evening News, now defunct, which according to a Wikipedia article on him, rose from sixth to second highest in daily circulation in the country. Soliven then spent 12 years as a foreign correspondent, covering, among other events, the Vietnam War, including the 1968 Tet Offensive, and the Gestapu Coup in Indonesia in 1965, in which half a million people were massacred. Soliven got an exclusive watching the detonation of the first atomic bomb in the People's Republic of China, where he also interviewed Premier Zhou Enlai on the matter. By 1972, Soliven was a columnist at The Manila Times. When the President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law tha year, Soliven was arrested at two o'clock in the morning of Sept. 23. He was released on probation after three months, but banned from leaving Manila for three years, and from leaving the country and from writing for seven years. On July 28, 1986, Soliven founded the Philippine Star with Betty Go-Belmonte and Art Borjal. -GMANews.TV