Myrna Aquitania Dec 16, 1944 – March 31, 2022

LOS ANGELES – Balita Media columnist Myrna Aquitania, who wrote about community events under the column title “Lighthouse,”in Philippine Post, succumbed apparently to heart attack while alone in her apartment in Alhambra, according to fellow writer Lydia V. Solis, associate editor of the Philippine Post. Aquitania was 77. Solis said she was supposed to pick Aquitania in her apartment Wednesday afternoon for an event at the Philippine Consulate General but the latter wasn’t answering her calls, texts and emails. The next day, Aquitania still did not answer her calls and texts, so in the evening, Solis decided to check with her in her apartment. She saw Myrna’s car in the parking lot but Aquitania wouldn’t respond to her knocks, prompting her to call the police, which sent fi remen to pry open her apartment door. She was found dead inside. Myrna was active in the Filipino community of Los Angeles since the early 80’s. She was a former President of the Filipino American Press Club of Los Angeles from 2008 to 2012, former president of the UP Sigma Delta Phi Alumni Association of Southern California, co-founder of the West Coast Sigma Delta Phi Alumni Association, former PRO of the UP Alumni Association Greater Los Angeles, and member of the St. Joseph’s Alumni Association in the US. Aquitania graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications. She attended a Master’s program in Journalism and Marketing at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. She was also a Certifi cate holder in Film Productions & Theatre Arts from Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois. Myrna had a total of 40 years media experience. While in college, Myrna worked as Associate Producer at Channel 5 Philippines while simultaneously working as Assistant Publisher at Philippine Aviation & Travel Magazine, before pursuing her studies in the United States. Her tenacious pursuit on a publishing career led her to learn publishing initially as a proofreader at the Encyclopedia Britannica in Chicago, Illinois, followed by her position as a Publishing Assistant at the Sadlier Geography World Book Series in Chicago, Illinois.

She was a former resident of Chicago, Illinois, before she moved to Southern California and a good friend of Via Times Publisher, Veronica Leighton.