Not a fluke of fortune

It was heartwarming to be congratulated by former colleagues, some of them I haven’t seen or heard from for decades. But because of my daughters’ posting in Facebook about the Lifetime Achievement Award we got from the Negros Press Club and the Rotary Club of Bacolod East, I got reunited with some of them through the strange but definitely useful world of social media.

Manuel Mejorada, the accuser of Senate President Franklin Drilon sent his congratulations and so did my former colleagues Roland Rivera, Wilfredo Capulong who worked with me way back in the Manila Chronicle and Gloria Melencio who is now a professor at the University of Sto. Tomas and who referred to me as ‘the best editor’ she ever had. To the well-wishers, it is indeed humbling and heartwarming and thank you too.

That I am now, for the past decade or so, a local journalist is not because of fortune but a culmination of a long-time ambition to work from home.

When I joined the Manila Chronicle in 1957 as a Manila-suburban correspondent, I never considered myself as a national writer even when my beats covered the whole Manila scene and my articles were published in national dailies and foreign periodicals.

Later, I was elected as president of the Manila-Suburban Press Club and together with columnist Ernesto Granada, we launched a project organizing the Federation of Provincial Press Club. I remembered Ermin Garcia was the first president of that club and he later became a press martyr when he was shot to death at the height of his career.

I devoted much time at the Chronicle and was later assigned as congressional reporter, covering the news for both the morning and evening editions of the newspaper and soon after that as a columnist.

I was promoted as the Provincial Editor and there renewed my ties with provincial correspondents and my love for news from the countryside.

            In 1965, I ran as vice-president of the National Press Club under President Nereo Andolong and Johnny Dayang and our slate won the elections.

By this time, provincial newsmen were as much members of the daily crowd at the NPC dining room until the eventual election of Samar’s famed police reporter.

Anyway, memories of those days still remain in my heart. It was a challenge to equalize treatment of news from the provinces since most stories was lopsidedly in favor of the Metro Manila scene. I noticed with alarm the discrimination by Manila editors of news from the provinces, and this practice continues, not only through their stories but even through news coverage particularly of national personalities.

I eventually had to leave Manila after I accepted the offer as Executive Assistant of the late Gov. Alfredo Montelibano, Jr. Was it fate or mistake? A year later, Martial Law was declared and Marcos closed down among others the Chronicle which I had intended to return to after my stint in the province.

After sometime, I decided to join my sister in San Diego, California and was there when the EDSA Revolution broke out. I had to come home.

Upon my return, I joined the Philippine Daily Inquirer for a few months. Afterwards, Louie Beltran, George Juralba and several of my deskmen decided to take the offer of Betty Go-Belmonte to join the Philippine Star.

I became associate editor and later news editor. When Beltran resigned as managing editor of the Evening Star I took over and it was there that I had a long stint.

Eventually though, I asked Betty if I could return to Bacolod to fulfill the oath I took before a Bishop that I would stay home and be with my family and just be a provincial journalist.

My wish was granted and for the longest time I was writing for the Star as reporter and columnist but eventually, I opted to just write for the local dailies as I had always wanted to.

In short, it was a dream realized and I promise I have lived up to by the grace of God. And like my fellow colleagues, referred to as the elders (not the elderly) by the local press, we hope that our dedication to our craft and experiences through the years have somehow influenced them in their own career.*

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