Nagpahayag ng labis na kalungkutan si House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. sa pagyao ni dating Press Secretary Rodolfo T. Reyes na itinuturing na isang icon o huwaran sa larangan ng peryodismo.

Si Reyes, 80, ay isang multi-awarded veteran journalist, editor, at broadcast executive.

“We were reporters together as teenagers,” sabi ni Belmonte.

Nakilala si Reyes nang mag-undercover siya bilang isang drug addict upang mailantad ang isang drug syndicate sa Malabon noong 1961.

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“He was a police reporter for the Manila Times, helped with the birth of the old Manila Standard, was editor for the Manila Chronicle, GMA Network general manager and executive vice president, and ABS-CBN’s senior vice president before serving as Press Secretary to former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada,” ayon kay Belmonte.

Kabilang sa natanggap na parangal ni Reyes ang Journalist of the Year Award, Ten Outstanding Young Men, Presidential Award Medal mula kay Pangulong Carlos P. Garcia at Nieman Fellowship mula sa Harvard University. - Bert de Guzman