?Uy, buhay ka pa?! [So, you?re still alive]? are lively greetings passed around after every coverage, spoken in jest and unspoken gratitude. After all, we have survived. But that was not to be for the 30 journalists and media workers in Maguindanao, on that grey morning of Nov. 23, 2009

?FROM Davao to any point in Mindanao? is how journalists describe their colleagues who move around the southern island and its many provinces at a snap of a finger. Or rather, at the slightest whiff of potential trouble.

That was how we, journalists from Imperial Manila with the nasty habit of parachuting into troubled Minda (or so our Mindanao-based colleagues call us), got to know Alejandro ?Bong? Reblando, Manila Bulletin correspondent for Socsksargen (South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and GenSan) areas and a stringer for southern Philippines for several Manila-based wire agencies.

Reblando was not your flamboyant, loud-mouthed name-dropping journalist who struts around wearing a bandolier of press IDs. He was rather low-key, even seemingly laid-back. But he was dependable in a way that any parachuting journalist would appreciate. Which meant that if you needed inside information, military gossip if you like, Reblando was the man to have coffee with. And it doesn?t mean information limited to his area of responsibility. Reblando had many sources; he knew the military commanders not only in Socsksargen but all over Mindanao.

Like most Mindanao-based journalists, Reblando was also highly mobile, as in ?from GenSan to any point in Mindanao.? Once I found myself sipping coffee with him in a hotel coffee shop in Zamboanga City, sharing inside info and wicked gossip about the military, the Abu Sayyaf, the MILF, the MNLF and of course, the politicians who coddled the lawless groups in cahoots with the military and the police.

Reblando, a radio reporter in the ?80s before he joined the print media, understood the intricate and personalistic nature of politics and the perilous balancing act that journalists perform daily as they go through their profession in multi-cultural Mindanao. Armed with this insight, he had reportedly voiced concern for the security of the media group that was accompanying the Mangudadatu women to file the certificate of candidacy of their kin, Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael ?Toto? Mangudadatu, at the Comelec office in Shariff Aguak, the territory of their arch political rival, the Ampatuan family. Mangudadatu was seeking the gubernatorial seat in Maguindanao, a post currently held by the clan patriarch, Gov. Andal Ampatuan, Sr.

Perhaps it was a lapse in judgment. Or unequivocal belief in the power of the press in a constitutional democracy. Maybe it was the call of duty. Or fate that made Reblando and company decide to push through with the trip despite the absence of government forces as escorts. Reblando was among the 30 reporters and media workers who were slaughtered along with female members and lawyers of the Mangudadatu clan and their followers, on the grassy hill off the highway in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao. Reblando left behind his wife, Myrna, and seven children.

I may have met the others who were with Reblando on that tragic convoy, as journalists have this peculiar (and to others, irritating) manner of flocking together before, during and after every coverage. This is particularly true in Mindanao, where the coverage often involves life-and-death situations, and where the presence of media in groups is the only assurance that somehow, things will turn out fine.

?Uy, buhay ka pa?! [So, you?re still alive]? are lively greetings passed around after every coverage, spoken in jest and unspoken gratitude. After all, we have survived. But that was not to be, for Reblando and the rest of the group, on that grey morning of Nov. 23, 2009.

Rest in peace, dear colleagues.

1. Adolfo, Benjie, Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City

2. Araneta, Henry, Radio DZRH, General Santos City

3. Arriola, Mark Gilbert ?Mac-Mac,? UNTV, General Santos City

4. Bataluna, Rubello, Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City

5. Betia, Arturo, Periodico Ini, General Santos City

6. Cabillo, Romeo Jimmy, Midland Review, Tacurong City

7. Cablitas, Marites, News Focus, General Santos City

8. Cachuela, Hannibal, Punto News, Koronadal City

9. Caniban, John, Periodico Ini, General Santos City

10. Dalmacio, Lea, Socsargen News, General Santos City

11. Decina, Noel, Periodico Ini, General Santos City

12. Dela Cruz, Gina, Saksi News, General Santos City

13. Dohillo, Eugene, UNTV, General Santos City

14. Duhay, Jhoy, Gold Star Daily, Tacurong City

15. Gatchalian, Santos, DXGO, Davao City

16. Legarte, Bienvenido, Jr., Prontiera News, Koronadal City

17. Lupogan, Lindo, Mindanao Daily Gazette, Davao City

18. Maravilla, Ernesto ?Bart,? Bombo Radyo, Koronadal City

19. Merisco, Rey, Periodico Ini, Koronadal City

20. Momay, Reynaldo ?Bebot? Momay, Midland Review, Tacurong City

21. Montaño, Marife ?Neneng,? Saksi News, General Santos City

22. Morales, Rosell, News Focus, General Santos City

23. Nuñez, Victor, UNTV, General Santos City

24. Perante, Ronnie, Gold Star Daily correspondent, Koronadal City

25. Parcon, Joel, Prontiera News, Koronadal City

26. Razon, Fernando ?Rani,? Periodico Ini, General Santos City

27. Reblando, Alejandro ?Bong,? Manila Bulletin, General Santos City

28. Salaysay, Napoleon, Mindanao Gazette, Cotabato City

29. Subang, Ian, Socsargen Today, General Santos City

30. Teodoro, Andres ?Andy,? Central Mindanao Inquirer, Tacurong City

Still unaccounted for: Evardo, Jolito, UNTV General Santos City. ?
List prepared by the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism