TRIBUTE TO SAL by Ely P. Dejaresco - Taken from this weeks issue of the Negros Chronicle. - I did not know that a few weeks ago, when I called up Sal for a usual legal consulta on local governance, it was the precise moment when his doctors told him that his liver was diagnosed with 4th stage of the big C, at the St. Lukes Medical Center. Yet despite it being the precise moment when Sals or anybodys world must have crumbled with the bad news, he was still brave enough to face the microphone even in distant Manila, to answer sensitive questions about local governance. That was our last interview with Journalist-lawyer Atty Saleto Erames. One incident that stands out was Sals brave stand against Martial Law. And this incident proved to be his signature that made Sal the symbol of a man of freedom and character who does not allow anyone to trample upon the rights of others. On the morning after the day Martial Law was declared, most, if not all people, trembled in fear for those who knew what Martial Law meant. But for Sal, it meant standing up and pronouncing his vehement protest against the now infamous Proclamation 1081 which put the entire country under Martial Rule for the next 26 years! And Sal foresaw this. He said this (martial law) will take a long long time. And indeed. From that time on, people who love justice and defied oppression joined the ranks of the media freedom fighters in Dumaguete. We refused to close down Sillimans old DYSR-AM (10 kw power) on Martial Law day. I anchored the morning show. Instead, Sal rallied the people to resist oppression and many followed suit. Marcos re-opened the station last and a few months after, granted permit for the Negros Chronicle to hit the streets until 44 years later and counting. There was no controversy wherein Sal did not say his piece when others refused to comment. That is why his pre-politics column Thinking Free was born. It was in this column that every controversial issue had its slice of comment by Sal. We suspended his column when he entered politics. His writings were respected because it was always a product of research and he never struck an opinion without legal basis, rightly or wrongly. The opinions he gave were always a result of studious, investigation of facts. He not only had eloquence on the air, but enough humility when presenting his stand on issues before the public eye. Most of all he had credibility because his words were not his own but as we have said, always a product of research. We clicked because he believed when the editor tells him to write down and not just adlib his piece. It is difficult to find a strong media ally who is ready 24/7 night or day, who eagerly responds when the call to duty is sounded off. By the way, it was all free of charge. We in Media call it for the love of Mike. Just as this paper is part of the history of Negros Oriental, so is Sal. A lawyer, constitutionalist, law dean, IBP president, board member and now city councilor, Atty. Saleto Erames is the epitome of freedom in this part of the country. The tri-MEDIA in Dumaguete will surely miss a strong ally of the press in the person of Atty. Saleto Erames. So long, Sal, my friend, our dependable ally in Media. The void which your untimely demise has created will certainly be hard to fill. The air lanes and the printed page will not be the same without you. But we shall all carry on the torch, and continue... thinking free!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 02:45:31 +0000
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