THIS is How Lovers Look!

When my wife and I paid our respects to Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc last night at Capilla de San Francisco in Santuario de San Antonio, Forbes Park, Makati, we were overwhelmed by the number of people who came to mourn the passing of a lovely, talented couple. Their dedication to capturing and encouraging beauty and truth, twenty four frames per second at a time and every second they spent with one another, will truly be missed.

But you might want to give what passes for "news reporting" on the tragic killing of these beautiful people a pass. My friends and I are incensed at the gross insensitivity with which the two major nationwide news networks have treated the slaying of Eggy and Nika.

Those who know me also know that I always credit my sources whenever I blog. This time, however, I refuse to give these character butchers the satisfaction. ABS-CBN immortalized these fierce dreamers and the passion with which they loved each other by reporting:

A Filipino-Canadian film critic and his Slovenian live-in partner were shot dead inside their home in Quezon City, Tuesday night.

GMA 7 came up with the brilliant headline "Film critic, lover killed by robbers in Quezon City home" and provided video that showed digitally blurred footage of both Eggy and Nika sprawled on the floor.

It seems that these major news networks exhausted whatever compassion and sensitivity they had with their coverage of Tita Cory's passing. It's a shame that their humanity extends only to revered former presidents.

Sadly, the finest news reporting of Eggy and Nika's murders were provided by a smaller Filipino newspaper which I remember as having been a tabloid featuring scantily clad young starlets, foreign news agencies and movie blogs. If you want to read the heartfelt sorrow that our young friends' passing has caused, kindly check out fellow Filipino Jeffrey G. Damicog's remarkably sensitive news report in Tempo, and Kim Voynar's moving meditation on love and loss in Movie City News.

Oh, and people? The picture above is how lovers look. Just for future reference.

Photo Credits:

Picture of Eggy and Nika comes courtesy of Chris Yambing.