Q. I’ll ask about your full name first.
A. It’s F.C. Borlongan. But it’s Fortunato.

Q. Fortunato C?
A. That’s my press name,”F.C.”

Q. Ah, huh. And then what’s the “C”?
A. “C” is Castillo.

Q. Um, were you… Are you married?
A. I am. I have five children.

Q. Sa’n po kayo nag-graduate, elementary, high school, and college?
A. I graduated from Malolos High school, Bulacan High School. I studied philosophy in the seminary, San Carlos. Then I left the seminary.

Q. ‘Nung elementary saan po?
A. Malolos also.

Q. Malolos also. And high school, Malolos ulit?
A. Malolos.

Q. And then, nag-take kayo ng seminary high school din ‘yon?
A. High school. I finished my high school there na. seminary…philosophy…

Q. And then ‘yung college niyo po?
A. Doon din. College in seminary.

Q. Uh huh. Nag-UST po kayo?
A. Yeah. When I left the seminary, I moved over to UST. I finished Bachelor of Philosophy.

Q. So hindi Journalism.
A. Hindi journalism.

Q. Kailan niyo po… Ha… Have you ever dreamed as a child na magiging writer kayo?
A. I don’t know. But in the seminary, I was the editor of the seminary paper. Siguro it’s… it’s…aah… it’s… you find fulfillment in it, siguro gano’n. It’s just you find a sense of fulfillment whenever you write something.

Q. So what is it about writing that fascinates you?
A. So… you write and write. That’s how you learn, e. Write.

Q. Uh hmm. Ano po ‘yung mga first writings niyo? Kelan po kayo nagsimulang magsulat?

Q. Bata pa po kayo?
A. Yeah. In the seminary.

Q. Ah, seminaryo na po kayo nagsimula.
A. In the seminary, I was editor of the paper. But then I began in the Manila Times talaga for the secular press. I was the religion writer for the Manila Times before Martial Law. And then I… during Martial Law, all those years, fourteen years, I was the religion editor of Daily Express. You haven’t seen Daily Express.

Q. Yeah.
A. It was the only paper then practically, during Martial Law.

Q. Kelan po kayo nag-start maging professional writer?
A. That was 1970

Q. Manila Times?
A. Manila Times.

Q. So, anyone who helped you get into the business? Contacts?
A. None.

Q. Apply lang talaga?
A. Oo. I just wrote, contributed, then they took me in. (Laughs)

Q. Ah. Were you ever a cub reporter o columnist na po kayo agad?
A. No, I was a reporter.

Q. First, for Manila Times.
A. Manila Times, but my beat was religion and education.

Q. Uh hmm. So, ano po yung first assignment niyo as a reporter?
A. Ah, that was to cover, I think 1970, when the Pope came, Pope Paul the VI. I covered then I wrote a series of articles mostly, mostly feature, feature articles on the Pope.

Q. So how did it feel nung first time niyong nag-cover?
A. Mmm… The usual thing. You got excited. You got excited. And just, you’d just love it. Just love it.

Q. So, if you don’t mind asking, how was the salary then?
A. It’s ah, umm, very little!

Q. Like?
A. Very little.

Q. How much?
A. The usual thing a reporter, whatever, you… you start, you always start with a minimum wage.

Q. Ah huh. Magkano po ‘yung minimum wage noon?
A. Noon murang-mura. I don’t remember now, that was twenty years ago, twenty five years ago, twenty eight years ago. (Laughs)

Q. Ah huh. So…
A. But writers like us do not write for… for pay. Even now I, I write columns, I don’t write… because they pay very little also… You feel some sense of satisfaction writing.

Q. Personal fulfillment na po.
A. Oo. Only that.
A. You feel being… Basta people read you, you feel satisfied.

Q. Ano po ba ‘yung mga privileges niyo as a writer?
A. Privileges?

Q. Oo. You get to meet the(most prestigious people, for example?)…
A. None. You get the usual thing that they give in newspapers: transportation allowance, only that. No other.

Q. Uh hmm. But, um.
A. Unless when sometimes you’re good. There are policies in newspapers. When you’re a reporter and your story, ah, becomes the main story of the paper, front page, you get, you get a little additional. Probably…

Q. Kayo po, may story na kayong naging front page na?
A. Ah yes. Manila Times. Manila Times.

Q. What was that?
A. I think I covered (thinks) the Pope!

Q. The Pope. Yun po ‘yung…
A. That was the first time.

Q. Wow, first time and front page agad! ‘Yan!
A. Because I came… I was assigned because I came from the seminary. So they gave me that assignment.

Q. When did you enter Manila Bulletin?
A. Because before I was with the Times Journal. I left, I left the Daily Express Edsa Revolution, 18… 1986 kasi Daily Express was shut down kasi publication was owned by Benedicto. I moved over to Times Journal for four years. So, about 1990. So siguro, mga about ’93 <1993>, I moved over to, ah, Manila Bulletin, not as a reporter, um, because I already retired. Only as a columnist.

Q. Umm, so sa Manila Times lang po talaga kayo naging reporter.
A. Yes I am. And also Daily Express, especially.

Q. So how do you describe Manila Times? ‘Yung office nila, even… (the equipment).
A. Manila Times was the premiere newspaper then, e. It was the most circulated newspaper. Ah, it’s like Bulletin or Inquirer today. You know, Manila Bulletin has a competitor, Inquirer. But that time, Manila Times had no competitor.

Q. Any other newspapers did not (go at par with Manila Times)?
A. Nothing. They did not fair well us in circulation.

Q. A huh. ‘Yung, ‘yung office niyo po nasaan?
A. Nandoon rin, Florentino Torres.

Q. A huh. Never pong lumipat ang Manila Times? Doon na po talaga sila?
A. Manila Times then was a line also. I mean, she has sister publications: Taliba, and then, afternoon paper, Daily Mirror. So, that’s why it had a bigger circulation.

Q. Ano pa po yung mga gamit niyong equipments dati sa writing? Wala pang computers, I guess, ang Manila Times.
A. Puro…

Q. Typewriters, manual. ‘Yung mga maliliit o ‘yung mga malalaki talaga?
A. May malaki, may maliit.

Q. So ‘yung ventilation, air conditioned po naman?
A. Oo. But the working conditions were not… as convenient as today. Kasi we were all packed up at Torres Building. But of course, times change. You get more facilities like here. You get more conveniences.

Q. So, ‘nung dumating po kayo sa Bulletin, ganito na? Dito lang po sa lugar na ‘to?
A. Yes. But then I just contribute kasi retired na ako. I don’t work with them anymore. I just contribute na lang twice a week, Wednesday and Sunday.

Q. Nakapagtrabaho na po kayo di ba sa ibang newspapers like Manila Times. Parang… ano po ‘yung chronology? From Manila Times to where?
A. Manila Times to Daily Express.

Q. And then?
A. Times Journal.

Q. And then, Manila Bulletin?
A. And then lately, I was taken in as a columnist in the daily newspaper Kabayan. Have you seen Kabayan?

Q. Yeah. ‘Yun ‘yung red na may flag. ‘Yun po ba ‘yon?
A. That’s it. I’m in there three times a week. They took me in.

Q. So sino po ‘yung mga, sino po ‘yung mga memorable colleagues niyo?
A. Colleagues?

Q. Oho.
A. Ah, e, Daily Express, most of them. Ah halimbawa, our editor then was Pocholo Romualdez, who is now editor of Malaya. Neil Cruz, who is now a columnist. Alice Reyes, not the PAGCOR, she is with the NAWASA now . Then Don Mortel, Diego Cagastian. I mean they are the chief some, somehow.

Q. Was that,a, Diego Cagastre?
A. Cagahastian.

Q. Cagastian?
A. Oo. He’s the section editor here in Manila Bulletin.

Q. A huh.
A. And then of course Roy Cabrera. He’s now Undersecretary, Press Undersecretary, Malacanang.

Q. Wow!
A. Oo. Because he was editor of Chronicle, of the Chronicle Post Journal. So he stopped hooking for a while. He was taken in by Rodolfo Reyes. He’s Undersecretary.

Q. Sino po naman ‘yung memorable editor?
A. Sa akin, e, because I stayed very long in Daily Express, fourteen years, I was there. So, the two are Romualdez and Neil Cruz. And I always take off my hat when I see them. They’re very good. Do you read Neil Cruz?

Q. No.
A. He has a column in the Daily Inquirer four times a week. And he still has a very good pen. He writes about politics, about social life. Better see him, in his article. Neil Cruz. He’s a veteran writer! And he writes well.

Q. One of your… One of the persons you look up to as a writer.
A. It’s because he is the only one who took meaning. Noon nga, I was editor of the Catholic paper. That was before 1970. I was there at the parish since I was the editor of the Catholic paper. I remember, he went all out saying he will open a newspaper. He would like me to join. What will be my beat will be mostly religion. Sometimes, I join. But that was 1972. Martial Law was declared. Actually, we’re the only paper. You know, Daily Express was only ten centavos. Then! Even the jeepney fare was ten centavos.

Q. And now all the prices are high.
A. Aba, siyempre. This paper is how much? Seven pesos! The Bulletin is ten pesos. Inquirer is twelve pesos. Dati ten centavos lang! Hay naku.

Q. So ‘nung Martial Law writer na po kayo. So how did Martial Law affect Daily Express? Kasi nasa Daily Express po kayo ‘non.
A. It got a boost. Because it was practically the only paper. There were three. I think they were Bulletin and Journal.

Q. Bulletin, Journal, and Daily Express.
A. And Daily Express. But since Daily Express was owned by Benedicto who was very close to Marcos o he captured, practically, the readership of the nation. Public offices and schools. Because it was under Martial Law. It was the biggest newspaper for twelve years. Up to the end of Martial Law. We’re practically old in news…newsmen now of name keep them kasi ‘yun lang ang peryodiko noong araw. So most of the writers now scattered on our came from Daily Express.

Q. Wala naman pong bad effect sa per… sa personal career niyo ‘yung Martial Law?
A. Wala naman.

Q. Bakit?
A. Ang beat ko kasi, e, it’s not political, e. It was not political. I was not affected. Pero sometimes, because during the time of Martial Law, there was a limitation on the kind of writing. Sometimes you write stories, for instance, on peace celebration announcing something. They always scrutinize and censor.

Q. Unlike now.
A. That is Martial Law. Unlike now.

Q. Pero you don’t feel bad naman kung bakit na before na nag-ce-censor sila?
A. It’s because already you are, you are designed. You already have a set in your mind. When you work for something, for some company, you have to follow rules. E, the rule then was to censor your work… So you get used to it.

Q. Memorable experience as a reporter or columnist?
A. My memorable experience was in the Column ...In the Daily Express and Philippine Express ‘coz I was also a columnist in the Philippine Express.

Q. Sister company po ng Daily Express?…
A. Ginawa ko’ng libro. Two books. Merong story about.. ah yung, yung… There were two Filipino nurses then who were convicted in the U.S. for allegedly killing twenty or thirty patients in the hospital. That was a very celebrated case in the 19… late 1970’s yata… These two Filipina nurses were accused and convicted! But after that they were exonerated. There was a retrial. So I wrote a book (

Q. About that.) about this highly celebrated case and I got into it because one of them was my pamangkin So I got all the source in interviewing.

Q. So that was the most memorable?…
A. So, those two: The Pope’s visit and the books, series. It became a book, booklet. Then afterwards… a series. That’s very little. The consolation of it.

Q. Who is the most significant person you’ve ever interviewed?
A. Interviewed? Well, I remember during Martial law I interviewed Imelda.

Q. Ah, huh.
A. Yeah, Imelda. Precisely because of the nurses. Because the nurses came home so they presented themselves to Malacanang. So I joined not only as tiyo, but also as a newsman. So I talked with Imelda. So, she was the most prominent then. She was the most prominent person!

Q. How was she?
A. She was a prinsesa noon e She was real…regal…

Q. Um, meron po ba kayong naging dangerous job?
A. Wala naman. Even until now. Because of the beat. My beat kasi is..was religion and education.

Q. Have you received any death threats?.
A. Wala.

Q. May other sources of income po ba kayo?
A. Kailan?

Q. Kayo, aside from being a writer.
A. A, of course. My writing then was only, shall we say, sidework,sideline. I was personnel officer of a bank Monte de Piedad for nine years. And then during Martial law I worked in the Department of Agrarian Reform. But I have always been writing. The minute I was bored. E kasi I was… ah eh, It’s because newspaper work is usually in the late afternoon or evening. So after office hours, I’ll run to Daily Express.

Q. But you never found it hard?
A. I found it hard because I am a poor man. And I had to provide for the education of five children. So I work. Unless…You have to work, ‘no. Otherwise… five of them are studying in college.

Q. Ah, sabay-sabay po.
A. That’s why I don’t own a car. I don’t own.

Q. Up to now?
A. Everything goes. Ah, it’s because I get used to wri… to walking. I really purposely don’t own a car. Even if I can but I don’t. It’s because that’s my only form of exercise, walking. I walk!

Q. So how long have you been working na in the industry?
A. The press? I observe my 30th year now. thirty years.

Q. Finally, last question, um, what does it take for one to last long? Ano po ba yung kailangan sa isang writer for him to last in the industry?
A. Do not stop writing.

Q. And the love. You have to love the profession.
A. Once you stop writing, wala. Mawawala na lahat ‘yan. Even during Martial Law, I never stopped writing then. Huwag mawawala. And then, write and write, as long as your health allows. So don’t stop writing. ‘Til, ah, just as food is for the body, I think for me, writing is for the mind. The food keeps your body strong. Now, writing keeps you alert, e. Because you have direction, you read everything. You read everything! You listen. You attend, you attend news conferences. I attend two conferences every week in newspapers forum. And then, another one is that… you have to… mga news forums. So, you get, you know, you don’t lose track of press people. Gano’n lang. But I have already retired. I just write column na lang.

Q. That’s all sir. Thank you very… Thank you very much.
A. ‘Yun lang ba? How nice. What year are you now?

Q. What?
A. Anong year ka na?

Q. Second year. At La Salle.
A. Ah. Somebody interviewed me. Twice na. They asked about… you didn’t ask, eh… About how, how to write, where do you get your materials.

Q. Ah huh. That’s, that’s a good question, I guess.
A. You didn’t ask me that.

Q. Oo. Well…
A. Of course you’ll ask now: Where do you get your materials? As far as religious and education beats are concerned, I get my materials from sources. I go to the Nuncio, I go to the Cardinal, I go to the parishes. Then I have my encyclopedia, Catholic encyclopedia, my Bible, Catholic books. And then as far as education, all these modules. That’s how I get sources. Why? Because the beat given to me was religion and morality, and education. Kung ikaw e assigned ka as a sports writer, I think you’ll have all the magazines in sports. I give you that because you did not ask.

Q. (Laughs.) We’re more concerned with your biography naman, anyway.
A. May mariringgan kang, “ where do you get, where do you get what you write?” Coz I write five times a week. Three times sa Kabayan, two times dito. So practically, everyday. May nagtanong, “do you…where do you get?”. You get by reading. (Laughs.)

Q. So bale, everyday you write a long essay, a long…
A. …Columns. Dito nga twice. Tatlo ro’n sa ano. So, five times a week.

Q. Hindi kayo nauubusan ng ideas?
A. ‘Yun nga, eh. ‘Yun ang maganda ngang tanong, e. You look for ideas. Talagang mauubusan ka. So, it’s an olympic set, e. ‘Teka, tomorrow, may column, Kabayan. Tagalog. Pupunta ka na. ‘Yan. Tapos dito sa Bulletin, sa makalawa na, sa Linggo.’ You exert effort, e.

Q. It’s endless researching din.
A. Oo. Routine mo ‘yung research, eh. Kasi five times a week.

Q. You really get to learn so much when you’re a writer.
A. But it’s ano, you get used to it, some kind of… It doesn’t matter whether it’s a…

Q. Pag nagsulat po ba kayo, dere-deretso? Yung wala nang… (draft)
A. When I was working. When I was still active. Pag nag-type, tuloy-tuloy. Meron kang notes, makinilya, tapos (sound, as if typing a news). Ngayon hindi. Mukhang tumanda na ako. May nagbago, bumagal. Bumagal. I always write muna…

Q. Draft?
A. Draft. Oo. Tsaka ko lang…(sound, as if typing a news). But during that time, when I was still young and active, tuloy-tuloy. It’s because you get pressured, e. Deadline. Basta umaga, lumakad ka na, mag-interview ka… pag hapon, you have to present , submit the event, feature. Tutal may editor naman doon sa desk.

Q. (Laughs) Trabaho na nila ‘yon.
A. May mali kasi.

Q. Ay, eto, naalala ko po kasi lesson na namin ngayon, sabi ng teacher ko na… newspapers… kasi nga dadating na ‘yung time na wala nang newspapers, ‘yung nasa computers na lang. What can you say about that?
A. Hindi. It won’t. ‘Cause, we are used to going back, e. When we finish reading, we clip. Sa computer, yung leksyon ng ating effort, di ba merong memory? Ewan ko that’s my… you cannot give up the…

Q. The paper itself.
A. The papers. Kagaya noong araw, alam mo ‘yung sinasabing, siguro mawawala na ang eskwela kapag may telebisyon na. Telebisyon nakasira pa sa pag-aaral. So, iba pa rin yung classroom teaching.

Q. O sige po. Hanggang do’n na lang po. Maraming salamat po.