Antonio “Tatay Tonee” Despojo. (Photo taken from Tonee Despojo’s Facebook page)
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A photo showing a dove flying over boats sailing along the Mactan Channel and adorned in the colors of the Senior Sto. Niño during the 2018 Fluvial Procession in Cebu became the front page of the now defunct Cebu Daily News paper.
The photo, a masterpiece by veteran Cebu-based photojournalist Tonee Despojo, would eventually become one of his most iconic and remembered works.
Tonee, fondly called ‘Tatay” by his peers, mentees, and colleagues in the media industry in Cebu, bid goodbye last Thursday, August 18.
He was 60 years old.
His departure was a great loss not only to members of the Cebu media but also to the people whom he inspired to pursue the same career.
In this featured story, CDN Digital pays its tribute and respect to Tatay by re-showcasing some of his best works as a photojournalist for more than three decades.
A dove flies above the fluvial procession of the image of the Virgin of the Rule at the Mactan Channel in this November 2018 photo. | CDN file photo
CUT FLOWERS IN BLOOM. Flower farmers in Cebu City’s mountain barangay of Sirao create a beautiful geometrical form as they planted in slopes to prevent soil erosion. In the next few days, these flowers will be harvested and sold not just in Cebu but in other parts of the country with the high demand for cut flowers in time for All Souls’ Day and Saints’ Day celebration next week. Story on page 9. (CDN DRONE PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Rocks formed to a cross were placed in the spot where 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan was found dead in Barangay Pajac in Lapu-Lapu City. CDN Digital photo | Tonee Despojo
FISH KILL: This July 2004 photo taken by Tonee Despojo in Labogon,
Mandaue City ranked 23rd place in the United Nations Environmental Programme’s “Focus on Your World” photo contest.
SILENT REMINDERS. Wooden crosses serve as silent reminders of the gruesome murders that took place in this grassy portion of Barangay Malubog in Cebu City. A shoe, reportedly owned by one of the victims, is mounted on one of the crosses./CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO
One of many workers harvesting flowers in Barangay Sirao for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Nanay Nita at 63 at Mantayupan Elementary School in Barili. CDN Photo by Tonee Despojo
ASTURIAS RICE/JUNE 2,2018: Farmer Pedro Tampos,66 examine his damaged rice plants attacked by attacked by Green Leaf hoppers carrier rice tungro disease in Brgy. Lunas Asturias, Cebu. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
The Sumilon sandbar gets a once-a-month reprieve. /TONEE DESPOJO
PIT SENYOR/JAN 9,2018: Minor inmate at Cebu City Operation Second Chance touches the glass cover of the image during the Image of Sto Nino visit the jail facility. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
A photo taken on board a Philippine Air Force plane that flew near the site where the cargo vessel MV Fortuner sank shows the oil sheen that one city official said had spread beyond the area.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO and JUNJIE MENDOZA
SHABU haul. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) scored big on Friday when it nabbed an alleged big-time drug lord with five kilos or P20. 4 million worth of shabu in Barangay Dumlog, Talisay City, on March 10, 2017. (CDNPHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
A fireworks display lights up the night sky at the Ayala Business Park, a few hours after the close of the Sinulog Grand Parade on Jan. 15, 2017. Earlier at the Cebu City Sports Center. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Farmer Ruben Villavelez could not help himself to his rice plantation that was damaged by El Nino in sitio Libo, Mohon Talisay City. Vilavelez worried who he will be loaning to finance his craft and the government for help. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Narciso Batucan shows the slug of a .45 caliber bullet behind a bullet hole on the wall of his house where the bullet passed. His seven-year-old son was killed by a stray bullet which came from motorcycle-riding men who were chasing a teenager who was an alleged drug pusher. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Tatay passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, according to the Cebu Provincial Government where he worked as one of its photographers from 2019 to 2021.
He was also one of the pioneers behind the birth of CDN Digital, which also marked Cebu Daily News full transition to the digital realm.
Tatay’s career as a multi-awarded photojournalist began in The Freeman as one of its cartoonists. At that time, he was pursuing a degree in architecture.
Later on, Tatay began self-learning photojournalism which led him to become Cebu Daily News chief photojournalist and photo editor from 1998 until 2018 when the paper shifted online. Under his leadership, Cebu Daily News bagged multiple awards for photojournalism.
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