Late columnist George Sison honored by colleagues

MANILA - Friends and colleagues paid tribute to lifestyle journalist and George Sison who passed away due to leukemia earlier this month.

Sison, who wrote a column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Lifestyle section, had taken what he said would only be a three-week leave from column writing earlier this year, his friend Thelma Sioson San Juan wrote in an article published Sunday on the Inquirer website.

"Three weeks had passed and still no word from him," San Juan wrote, saying Sison didn't say goodbye to his friends, "even the long time ones."

"Even Sison’s sister, Margarita, to whom he was close, didn’t know the extent of his illness," Cherry Moral wrote in another article.

Sison's lifestyle column for the Inquirer "And So It Is" debuted in 2014, telling amusing anecdotes about people in high society.

He had also taught Philosophy at the Far Eastern University; tried stage acting with National Artist Lamberto Avellana’s theater group; dabbled in painting and held three one-man shows; wrote three books of poetry; wrote a song for Pilita Corrales, which was eventually covered by the world renowned "The Platters"; and produced Ishmael Bernal’s debut film “Pagdating Sa Dulo”, wrote Pocholo Concepcion in another article honoring Sison.

His columns as Conde de Makati at Weekly Graphic got him imprisoned during Martial Law alongside arrested other members of the media.

Later, Sison would come to embrace New Age mysticism and founded IAMISM, a "temple of prayer and spiritual enlightenment" and “a course on happiness and life management”.