Manila Times Business columnist Ubalde writes 30
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2019 09:04:09 +0000
BROADCAST journalist and Manila Times columnist Joseph Holandes Ubalde has passed away.He was 34. This was confirmed by his sister Shyrl Ann Ubalde in a Facebook post.
A separate police report said Ubalde was found dead at 5:30 p.m. on Monday in his room at the Shangri-la Hotel at The Fort in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig.
BGC police said Ubalde’s body was discovered inside his bathroom after hotel security checked on him in response to a caller’s request as he was not answering his cellular phone.
An in-house doctor said Ubalde died on the spot although the cause of death has to be determined.
His last social media post on his Instagram page was on Monday, April 1. The post showed a photo of himself accompanied by a text that simply said, “Freedom.”
Born Mark Joseph H. Ubalde, the Muntinlupa native finished his degree in Journalism from the University of the Philippines in 2007. Three years later, he earned his Certificate on Online and Multimedia Journalism from the International Institute for Journalism (InWent) in Berlin, Germany.
Ubalde started his journalism career in 2009 as Senior News Producer for GMA News and was awarded that same year for his report on absentee mothers called “When Mom is Away, the Family goes Astray.”
In 2011, he transferred to TV5 first as Multimedia Reporter for InterAksyon.com and won Best Online Report at the Migration Advocacy Media Awards for his report on “Highlights and Lowlights: 38 years of Pinoys Abroad.”
By 2013, he was already a Content Manager for News5.com.ph and managed the pioneer team of N5E as the news site generated a peak of 48 million unique visitors in 2014 under his watch.
Ubalde later worked as a consultant for the Asian Development Bank, the Presidential Communications Operations Office and the Department of Information and Communications Technology where his social media expertise was put to good use.
In his brief government service, Ubalde helped revamped the press secretary’s website (PCOO.gov.ph) and was instrumental in improving the social media presence of the Philippine News Agency. He was also part of the technical working group that crafted the social media guidelines for government.
Likewise, Ubalde helped create the National Government portal’s communication strategy and spearheaded the revamp of the gov.ph website.
As a Social Media Trainor, Ubalde conducted trainings on how to embrace social media in universities, multinational companies and even the Catholic Church.
In 2018, Ubalde started writing his column, The Digital Nomad initially for the Business Times and later, the Sunday Business & IT sections of The Sunday Times. Throughout his brief but memorable stint, Ubalde’s columns touched on many relevant issues like how businesses can benefit from a strong social media presence, the hunt for the ideal social media influencer, what people should and should not do on social media and how to combat fake news.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar who worked closely with Ubalde at the PCOO and News5 paid tribute to his fallen media colleague in a Facebook post, “Thanks for passing this road. The memories will stay.”
Ubalde’s remains lie in state at the Loyola Memorial Chapels in Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. EDWIN P. SALLAN AND WITH A REPORT FROM NEIL JAYSON SOERVALLOS
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