Cendaña dies of heart attack, 76

Gregorio Cendaña, the information minister during the final years of the Marcos regime, and a board member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), died yesterday morning of a heart attack at the Philippine Heart Center. He was 76.

Family members relayed the news of Cendaña’s death in the weekly Balitaan sa Rembrandt forum at Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City at around 11 a.m.

"Our colleague Greg Cendaña died at the Heart Center," veteran journalist and forum moderator Miguel Genovea told reporters and forum guests. No other details of Cendaña’s death or date of interment were available as of press time.

His remains are at the Funeraria Paz on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City.

Cendaña was information minister during the Marcos administration from 1980 until the ouster of the late strongman in February 1986. It was during his term when GTV-4 was reorganized and renamed Maharlika Broadcasting System. He also headed the powerful propaganda arm, the National Media Production Center. Philippine media reeled from censorship and, in many cases, outright repression during the Marcos regime.

Cendaña sat as a member of the board of MTRCB when it approved early this week an X-rating for a video production on the life of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Cendaña had assured lawyer Rufus Rodriguez, who was representing the film’s producers and distributors, that he would seek a review of the MTRCB classification. The producers and distributors earlier complained that none of their representatives were present when the MTRCB screened the video, reportedly in violation of the law. — Perseus Echeminada