FORMER ambassador to the Holy See and veteran journalist Oscar Villadolid died of heart attack last May 29 at the Makati Medical Center. He was 79.
He is survived by his wife, former New York Times correspondent and Varsitarian editor Alice Colet-Villadolid who currently teaches journalism at the Faculty of arts and Letters, and nine children.
Oscar was laid to rest last June 2 at the Loyola Memorial Park in Paranaque City.
“He was a very affectionate father, that’s why his death was bitterly received by our children. As a husband, he was considerate and very interesting,” Alice said of her husband.
Oscar was the editor in chief of the defunct Philippine Herald from 1971 to 1972 when it was shut down by the Marcos regime. He also became a reporter and columnist of the Manila Bulletin.
An alumnus of the University of the Philippines, he also served as senior vice president for public relations of San Miguel Corp. in 1990 and was the ambassador of the Philippines to the Vatican and Malta from 1991 to 1995.
After completing his diplomatic tour of duty, Oscar became a columnist for BusinessWorld.
In 1963, he received the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award in Journalism.