ABAD. What newspaper did you work for?
MALAY. Okay, I started working for Daily Star and Filipino Star … Pilipino Star. Daily Star is an afternoon daily and that comes out from Monday to Saturday. And Pilipino Star is a morning daily in Tagalog. These are the forerunner of what is now known as Philippine Star and Pinoy Star or something. That's the Tagalog. These were being published before Martial Law days. I started working for them in 1969 up to … no, yeah, nineteen six-- no no no… 1971 up to 1972. I worked for them from 1971 to 1972.

Q. How long… How were the newspapers in terms of their physical location?
A. The Daily Star and the Pilipino Star I worked for was located at the corner of Pedro Gil, that was Herran before, and M. H. del Pilar. And…

Q. You also worked for Evening Post right?
A. Yeah, but Evening Post was during the Marcos years, in 19-- I started working for Evening Post in 1981 all the way up to 1986 when Edsa Revolution was launched. During…Before Martial Law the newspapers are scattered but most of them are in the port area, like Bulletin. But Manila Times was along Florentino Torres, that's in Sta. Cruz. And Manila Chronicle was in Pasig, where you have the Benpress Building now. That's Manila Chronicle. Philippines Herald, the publication of the Sorianos was in Intramuros. And Manila Bulletin was also in Intramuros. And Taliba was in Florentino Torres. And Evening News was in Binondo, that's the Elizalde Building in Binondo.

Q. How were their physical facilities? Their building…
A. Well, the physical facilities of the newspapers before are very primitive. In a sense that now you have computer terminals in almost every desk. Before you use typewriters. I remember we were using typewriters that are not even in proper order. The… Most of the typewriters have even broken-down. Now, what we use even for coupon bonds to type our stories are leftover rolls used in teletype, in telex… teletype machines that are … it has a carbon paper in between. So that's what we use to save on coupon bonds.

Q. Sir, have you been doon sa printing area nila?
A. Printing area again, …primitive. We had …but we had…offset…offset printing already before. But…they are not full color they are only in black and white. Unlike…unlike the equipment now, that can run on full color and can print about 200,000 copies per hour. Yeah, before we were printing about ten to fifty thousand per copies… copies per hour.

Q. Sir, you were using offset lithography.
A. Oo, offset na rin. But then there were… there were… what you call… not offset…

Q. Gravure?
A. What?

Q. Gravure?
A. No no no no. There's a kind of printing where…where you use … where you use… lead types.

Q. The Linograph.
A. Linograph… linotype. Manila Bulletin was using it. Oo, lino…Manila Bulletin was using it. And then… Manila Times was also using it. The first one to have a… an offset was Manila Chronicle because they were owned by the Lopezes. Yeah, they were the first one to have an offset and had color…Manila Chronicle.

Q. So, sir, what led you to the newspaper industry?
A. By accident because the news director of ABS-CBN, who was my boss and who was a friend… who was a very good friend of mine, resigned from ABS-CBN and transferred to Daily Star as editor-in-chief. So, he brought me, from the radio and TV. He brought me to the newspaper. So that was by accident…ganon kasi kaibigan ko yung ano, yung editor. So kinuha rin niya ako from ano…from the TV station, ABS-CBN channel, we were broadcasting on channel 2 and 4. We were in the news department. He brought me to that…to the newspaper.

Q. So…sir…what's your course in college?
A. I took up AB actually not even journalism, AB English.

Q. But did it have anything…did it help you in your…
A. Ah yes. Of course…of course. At least you have a…knowledge of English language. (Laughs)

Q. Pero sir… kunyari in entering that business do you …yung… necessary ba na yung course mo is parang journalism or is it more of yung attitude mo?
A. No no no no… As a matter of fact, many writers are lawyers. Duroy Valencia, the late Duroy Valencia is a lawyer. Joe Guevarra is a lawyer. Max Soliven is a lawyer. Art Borjal is a lawyer. Who else? Emil Jurato is a lawyer. And there are others. Some are Economic… graduates of Economics. Some are graduates of other courses. But I think it's their love for writing. It's not necessarily that if you're a graduate of Mass Comm. or Journalism, you automatically end up writing in a newspaper. Some are graduates of other courses.

Q. So, was it difficult to enter the newspaper industry at that time? Was it competitive?
A. At that time, no, unlike now. Now when you enter a newspaper you have to know how to write. Before, you only have to have guts. A lot of people in those days do not know how to write. They only know how to report. They …what we call stringers or what we call legmen. The legmen are the ones who gather the stories and then they …they just answer the 4 W's, the… the who, when, what, where…like that and then the how and then the why. And then they give it to the reporter or to the editor. And then the editor, they have a copy editor. They have a deskman. These are the people who put it into news form. Pero yung byline, doon sa legman. But these legmen, normally, they do not know how to write. And then you have cub reporters like me I was a cub reporter. I was cubbing for Sonny Belmonte, before. Now he's a congressman. Louie Beltran…we're police reporters. Everybody started in the police beat. Unlike now when you have new graduates, they're being assigned to Malacanang or to Congress or Senate. Unlike before, when you are older, you go to Malacanang but we…we all started in the police beat. That is where you are trained. That is because…you see cases. You see…you go to the courts. Unlike now, when…even a new graduate is assigned to Malacanang. Dati…Before, Malacanang is a primary…prime…prime beat. You don't just go to Malacanang unless you have gathered quite a number of years or expertise or prominence. Pero ngayon mga bata, they're all in Malacanang, Senate and Congress. Wala na sa pulis. Kawawa yung pulis. Nobody goes to the police. Yung mga beterano ngayon ang nasa pulis. For what reason, I don't know.

Q. Sir, how were you treated as a cub?
A. As a cub, you're an errand boy. You…you call the desks. You call all the police departments and then you…you write the story but the byline goes to the reporter. As a cub you receive P60, the reporter gets P120. Allowance ka lang. Ganoon. And then you do all the dirty job. You go to the…all the things that a reporter should do, ikaw ang gumagawa. The reporter, they just play…domino, doon sa PR office ng police department. But the cub reporters are the ones who gather the news. Ganoon. But the byline goes to…But that's only for 6 months and one year…6 months or one year. After that you become a full-fledged reporter, ikaw na yung byline.

Q. What was your first beat like?
A. My first beat? Manila police…Manila police. My first story was the Priscilla Lalu case, the chop-chop, the lady that was cut into pieces. With…but I was the cub the byline went to Ruther Batuigas. Oo, si Ruther became well known. But Ruther does not know how to write. (Laughs). Even up to now. Kaya…kaya lang matapang eh…he has lots of guts. He goes to places where nobody wants to go. You know that's his…that's his talent. That's his forte.

Q. Who were your superiors and editors?
A. Manny Benitez…Manny Benitez, Tony Roces…Tony Roces, yes. Andrew Go, Andrew Go is now the publisher of Toronto Star. He left…he was afraid of Marcos when Martial Law was declared he went to Canada. Then he put up Toronto Star. Andrew Go is the brother of the late Betty Belmonte…Betty Go Belmonte. Yeah, now he's in Canada. Tony Roces was my editor. Manny Benitez was also my editor. Tony Mortel was my editor, then a lot of others. I worked for…but the…the most admirable, I mean, the person I admire most is Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, my editor in Evening Post. Then…Francisco…I think. Now he's in Manila Bulletin …editor. I forgot the name eh. Now he's an editor of Manila Bulletin. Butch del Castillo, now an editor of Manila Standard, was also my editor. Practically lahat ng mga editors ngayon eh naging editor ko rin. And some who are reporters before, like me, are now editors also. Like Joey Delos Reyes of Malaya, was just a colleague of mine. Atty. Antonio of Bulletin was just a reporter like me before.

Q. Sir, how were the editors like in terms of …deadline...ganon…grammar
A. Before? They go by the deadline. Like if the deadline is four o'clock, you have to submit your story by four o'clock. If they don't have the story by four o'clock, they give you at least about 10 to 15 minutes more. And the editors are so demanding because the fact that they are editors means that they are good. So you don't just submit any kind of story. So the…the most common comment there before is "Where did you go to school?" If you submit a sloppy story, the most common ano I've heard, "Where did you go to school? You better go back to your…" Ganon. Mahigpit noong araw. Now, hindi na masyado eh. Hindi na masyado eh, kasi people know how to write now eh, because they are being trained in college. Unlike before when you don't have a regular Journalism course…During my time, there were only a few schools that have Journalism courses. But one of the best schools for training a reporter was U.E. Because…most…The Dawn. They have this Dawn newspaper. That is one of the best school organs before, in addition to Collegian of U.P. But there are only three schools that have good newspapers, The Dawn of U.E., Collegian of U.P. and U.S.T., the Arts and Letters of U.S.T., Varsitarian. 'Yun…yun, those are the good.

Q. Were there any memorable editors? And why were they memorable?
A. Alin?

Q. 'Yung mga editors po na memorable. Why were they memorable?
A. Well because they have their own styles, like Butch del Castillo. He doesn't…when you submit to him a story. Butch del Castillo is now business editor and associate editor of Manila Standard. When you submit to him a story, he doesn't ask many questions but he…he mangles your story, that, when it comes out, it's no longer you. But it's beautifully edited. And you'll even surprise yourself as to how good you are. But Kerima was the best. When I was writing for Kerima. Kerima is the best. When I wrote for Kerima, I was writing a column. When my column came out, it was not the column that I wrote. But when I saw the column that I wrote, it was full of red ink with a note, "You better read a lot." But this is how we learn eh. This is how you learn. Even…even columnist now like Art Borjal went through Kerima's editing. And the columns that Art wrote for Evening Post were not the same…were not the same. There are only a few good columnists, really ah. Adrian Cristobal is one. Teddy Benigno is pros is one. Ah yes, si Ninez. Ninez…'no? Ninez…non-conformist…non-conformist…that's what we call non-conformist. Non-conformist is anybody…anybody…anybody anti-establishment.

Q. Sir, you were also an editor for Evening Post. How were you as an editor?
A. (Laughs) It was easy for me kasi I started as a reporter. So, when a story is put on the table, I can always go back to the back of my mind, that I have a grasp of the story. So, it was easy for me to edit the story. And a reporter cannot just put anything there because I can always draw on my files, even on my mental files. Kaya…and that is what editors should really be. They should really come from the rocks, so that they know the background…of like…for example, even now if you ask me about bank-up scam, pay-up money, I can give you a background on those cases, even without my notes. Kasi kabisado mo eh. 'no? Even as an editor…when I was an editor, the fact that I came from the police beat helped me a lot because in the police you also learn how to investigate, the process of investigation. And when you attend court cases, you also…you also acquire familiarity with how cases are progressing or how they develop. Kaya it also helps in the development of the story. I never really stayed long eh. Siguro mga two…three years lang ako nag-editor eh. After that I went into PR na eh. Oo. 'Tsaka business…business was not much of ano eh except for figures. You have to be very particular with data and statistics, unlike political or front page editing. That's a different stuff…altogether.

Q. Regarding the working conditions of the journalist, how much time does it take? For example yung working hours niyo.
A. There is a working hour like…normally journalists do not have a regular working hour except that they have to observe the four o'clock deadline. What they do in the field is up to them. Except that they have to… they have to observe the four o'clock dead line, which means that by four o'clock in the afternoon they have to have the story. But they have a day off once a week. They have a day off once a week. But as you acquire expertise in your field, normally you don't go to your beats anymore. Like me, I was covering Central Bank and Finance… the trade. I don't go there anymore. I just go to office at three o'clock. I start calling these areas, Central Bank and ask for stories, then by four o'clock, you have a story. Then I can do something else besides newspapering kasi it doesn't pay eh. Diba? It doesn't pay. Before a newspaper reporter only receives…magkano ba… four thousand 'no…two thousand five noong 1981…two thousand five.

Q. Was it worth it?
A. It was worth because you see your name in the papers. That's the only joy. That's the only joy! It's a labor of love. It's a labor of love. Newpapering is a labor of love. Even up to now; newspaper editors now only receive fifteen thousand to twenty thousand a month. And newspaper reporters now only receive a minimum of eight thousand to ten thousand, still not much. Yes…oo…it's still not much. It's a labor of love. It's a labor of love. Talagang love lang ito, love for writing. And the feeling that you…you…you rub elbows with…you know…you know people. You can call a secretary of a department. (laughs). Meron din pero bawal 'yon…bawal 'yon…bawal 'yon. But the conditions now are better than before. Now…modern facilities, then everything is available. Most reporters now have cars…yeah. Before, we did not have any car. We ride taxis, jeeps, buses, motorcycles sometimes. Pero ngayon mga editor naka-Trooper na eh. Oo and I can see some editors I know naka-Altima. Naiinggit ako eh. Pero may payola 'yon, off the record 'yan. Hindi sweldo 'yon, walang magbibigay ng ganoon sa kanila. (Laughs).

Q. Sir, how about holidays?
A. Holidays? Walang holiday ang diyaryo, except Good Friday…Good Friday, that's the only holiday. We work on Christmas. We work on New Year. We even work during typhoons. Walang holiday, especially during those times before Martial Law, walang holiday 'yon. But now…but you have…you have off days and then you also have bonuses like for example the ten…tenth anniversary of Taiwan. Sometimes you get invited all expenses free. Sometimes when there is an inaugural flight of PAL, you are invited if there is an inaugural flight. Or opening of hotels like that you're invited for a one night…(laughs), mga ganoon. 'Yon.

Q. Sir, what was the process in like, you're going to write a story tapos…paano yung process ng mga reporters, from writing it…from writing the story to the…going to the publisher. Ano yung process?
A. No, the publisher does not see your story unless…unless it is…unless it is a nerve-wrecking story or it's something about Erap or something about the country, something about national security but normally the publisher doesn't involve himself. In…except the…the opinion page, like yung mga editorials but the front-page the publisher doesn’t get to see the story. They just go there. They just watch. But it’s the editor-in-chief who is in command. The publisher is just …owner, figurehead…except…figurehead. Except if the story is really big, 'no? That it…it may end…it may result in the closure of your newspaper, like Manila Times. Ano 'yon, the publisher gets to see it. But normally it's the ano…but normally editor-in-chief.

Q. Sir, what's…what's your most…yung memorable coverage?
A. Most memorable coverage…most memorable coverage…was…on radio-TV ABS-CBN the May 1, Labor Day Rally in front of Congress because…there were marchers. And then we were there in front…we were covering the rally. But these students, they had this toy rifle and they had this soundtrack. As they were approaching congress they played the soundtrack like firing. Oo. Yung mga sundalo doon sa bubong ng congress, itong old congress ha, they thought na mayroong arms yung students. So, they started firing and they didn't notice na nandoon din kami. So, we had to run to the golf course, yung golf course ngayon. We had to duck doon sa mga canal. And you know there were about two students na babae namatay doon sa tabi ko eh kasi tinamaan sa ulo. Oo. And we could not get up kasi nagfa-fire sila eh. Alam mo nagalit ako doon sa sundalo. Nagalit din ako doon sa studyante kasi bakit sila nagpatunog nung ano…nung soundtrack, oo… nung firing gun. And they thought na may… may armas…eh siguro eh baka ganoon. The riots…the ra…the rallies yun ang memorable sa akin. In the newspaper, my most memorable was the dollar salting, when I exposed the dollar salting. When I exposed SEC, yung bribery sa SEC. I was the one who exposed that. Yung sa Phil-Finance Scandal. I exposed that. And then, Marcos was forced to re…reorganize SEC. There were only three commissioners in the SEC. You have the chairman and then you have the three associate commissioners. But after my expose, he increased it from the chairman to four associate commissioners. Kaya yung apat diyan, they owe it to me. (Laughs). Dati tatlo lang 'yan eh. Limjoco was the chairman and then Sulit and de Guzman, namatay na si de Guzman, oo si Sulit and then si Sixto. Kamamatay lang ni Sixto. And they I exposed the bribery, so they increased it. And then, the first…the first was Jose Abello. And then, they had Valdez, Gonzalo Santos, Charito Lopez and another one…ha? Hindi hindi…And then there's another one. Oo. So that was my most merable…most memorable break because it led to a reorganization. At that time during the Marcos, it's unthinkable for a reporter to write against any government agency. But we were able to because documented…documented. I had the papers. I had the papers that they received the cars. And then, it also involved a director of Central Bank. But he returned the car eh. He returned the car.

Q. Sir, how about yung ano, yung coverage niyo with yung trip ni Ferdinand Marcos.
A. Alin?

Q. Yung state visit niya.
A. State visit yung sa U.S. 1982. I was there to cover for Evening Post. But I think that state visit was merely a…merely a …a disguise to cover up his medical…he really went there for I think for medical reasons…for medical reasons. Because he was already grayish eh, at that time. He…he was no longer looking brown. Grayish na yung skin niya eh. Talagang at that time…and then, I went to his hotel and I noticed that every certain hour, at ten o'clock or eleven o'clock, the ambulance leaves…Oo. I was told that the president at that time was resting but when I was watching the movements in the hotel, I could sense that it was the president being transferred to a hospital. I think it was really for medical reasons.

Q. Sir, what were your memories as a reporter during Martial Law?
A. Martial Law, you know that is one thing I always dispute, when they say that there was no freedom of the press. Maybe for some, but I had my own freedom because I could write eh. I could write against the government except that I'm also the…anong tawag doon…the most suspended reporter at that time, without pay. And the…the last time I was suspended by Tu…because my…my newspaper, Evening Post, is owned by Johny Tuvera who died already. He's the senior dep…senior executive secretary of Marcos. The last time I was suspended, when I came back, I had to sign a waiver that I am not going to write about these government agencies, about these people and about these people and about these people. So, I have to sign it.

Q. Sir, the Evening Post was a…sir, sabi sa 'min parang crony press?
A. Yes. Yes, it was but I could get away with it. I could get away with it. For…especially number one ha, my condition is if I have the documents, I can write anything about… even Marcos, if I have the documents. If I don't have the documents, you play around with your stories, like allegedly, reportedly, sources said, highly reliable sources…mga ganoon. Oo.

Q. Sir, how about during EDSA Revolution…were you still
A. EDSA Revolution

Q. The coup attempts were you
A. Yeah, I was with Evening Post. They closed down our paper. We lasted up to 1987. Then finally we had to close down the newspaper. And then I transferred to Inquirer but I didn't get along well with the late Louie Beltran. So, I left. Then I went into PR business.

Q. Sir, how about yung sa Municipality of Karomatan? What's it all about?
A. Karomatan. Paano mo nalaman 'yon?

Q. Sir, sa ano niyo po …biodata.
A. Karomatan, I went there to investigate an election anomaly. And then, because Karomatan is the base of the Barracudas. The Barracudas is the private army…that's…that's what they call the private army of Dimaporo. So I went there to investigate election anomalies. And then, I was able to prove before the COMELEC my story because when I went there I saw that the…the town was probably inhabited by only about seven thousand people. But the registered voter was about thirty-five thousand. Kaya I was able to prove that. And I was…I became…I was…I was used as a witness by the COMELEC to prove the anomaly. And when I went there, we were having lunch in the town, and then the mayor told us, invited us for…to have dinner, to go home the next day because they have a party at the town plaza. But then, while we were having lunch one of the teachers approached me and said 'You better go home now because we don't have a party. The party is only being…to be held. But they are going to kill you tonight.' Right there and then after lunch, we went back to Iligan City. And then we went to one of the… one of our friends where we hid. Ganoon.

Q. Sir, so you were …sir, meroon kayong death threats?
A. Oo, normal 'yan.

Q. What do you do pagka…meaning, you don't take them seriously?
A. Pray. (Laughs)

Q. Good idea.
A. Pero wala naman. So far wala naman. Pero they're real ha. That's one of the risks. That's one of the risks. That's one of the risks.

Q. How about bribery?
A. Bribery? Yes marami 'yan.

Q. Paano po …paano po nakakarating sa inyo yung bribery? Letter? Call?
A. No, sometimes they invite you like this. Sometimes they invite you and then they say their case, they explain their case, they explain that the…ganoon. Pagkatapos, sometimes they hand you a letter but you don't know what's in the envelope. But you know it's money kasi makapal eh, 'no. Eh hindi naman letter 'yon eh diba? So sometimes you return it, sometimes…diba? Hindi mo naman isosoli kasi minsan hindi mo rin alam eh. Sometimes, papadala sa bahay mo. So how can you…hindi mo alam kung kanino galing. Ganoon eh. Sometimes ang alam mo na lang na ganoon. Magagalit sila.

Q. Sir, alam niyo po yung ACDC? Attack Collect Defend Collect?
A. Maraming ganoon. Maraming ganoon na mga reporters. When they write something bad about a person they expect to collect. Then, another ano naman is when even if you know that this person is doing something bad, but you keep on writing good about him, defending him, 'yun naman 'yon. 'Yon nangyayari naman din 'yon.

Q. Were you…ano…free to write anything or were you…other than yung publisher niyong nag-influence sa sinusulat niyo were there others?
A. No, they were not. But sometimes, they ask you to tone down your story, huwag naman masyado.

Q. Meron bang mga untouchables?
A. Meroon. Of course. Of course meroon. Syempre, friends of the publishers, friends of the owners, friends of the editors, sometimes with me ano…meroon, hindi pwedeng wala. Hindi pwedeng wala.

Q. Tapos sinasabi po sa inyo na…
A. Oo. Malou sinasabi 'yon no?

Q. Was there an instance na you were at the right place at the right time? Yung parang you had an exclusive story of something?
A. Marami. Many instances…many instances, sometimes nagkwekwentuhan lang tapos may naikwekwento na silang ganoon. So it arises…arouses my interest, so I follow it up from there. Maraming ganoong instances. Maraming ganoon. It's a question of …it's a matter of your…your…your…your perception and your senses being on the alert every time. But you have to be…even…even in a coffee shop like this. Like for example if you are having lunch, you have people on the other table talking. I always have my ears open, so I can listen. And I have the ability also to read even if the document is up side down. Even document…like for example in offices of a government official, sometimes the document is like that. Even if I sit here, I can read the document backwards. Kaya yung mga officials noong araw, 'pag dumadating na ako, they…they keep their documents covered. Because they know I'm…Or sometimes, even if the document is lying in a table like that, I can…I can pull it out if they are not watching. Sometimes you have to do it eh, to have a story.

Q. Did you ever have a special source that give you tips? How did you meet them?
A. Sometimes you also make use of sources. Like for example in the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, when you make friends already with everybody, they are your source. The secretary, the clerks, they are your source kasi they are the ones who are going to help you. 'Boss may storya doon.' O kaya yung mga clerk who are compiling records, or the librarian. They are your sources. And they are good sources. Firsthand source 'yan.

Q. Binabayaran po ba yung mga sources?
A. No naman…a lunch…coffee. Oo. Coffee-coffee lang 'yon, palunch-lunch lang.

Q. What were the differences in working for different departments? Diba you worked for police, tapos sports and then business?
A. You become a well-rounded newspaper…you become a well-rounded newspaperman. Meaning that in the police, you develop your sense of investigation, sense of…how cases are developed. Then you can use that in other areas. Then you become well rounded. Unlike now, if you are assigned to Senate, talagang doon ka sa Senate. Maganda sa business wala 'yan eh. Unlike in the police, then you go…sometimes there was even a time I was assigned to social ano eh…the society column. Yeah, oo. And I didn't last very long kasi hindi ko gusto eh.

Q. Boring?
A. Oo, boring diba? You cover beauty pageants. Boring 'yon eh.

Q. Sir, yung sa sports? Diba yung
A. Sports, very nice. Very good ang sports. The difference in sports is you have…you really have to like it. And you have to play it like for example when I covered football, I didn't know anything about football. So, I was copying from a reporter behind me. Ganoon, iniiba ko lang yung term niya. Basketball, nahirapan din ako noon. But you learn, you learn in the process. Bowling, 'yon sa bowling, nagbowling ako. You cover bowling, then maglaro ka ng bowling. But up to now, I cannot write about baseball and softball. Or…yeah I cannot write about baseball. Golf, I can write. It's a matter of ano also knowing how to play the game.

Q. Sir, sa business?
A. Business, I also had a hard time. It took me about six months. Wala akong training doon eh. Tinuruan lang ako ng mga reporters na nandoon na rin.

Q. Sir, ano naman ang difference ng working for a daily newspaper 'tsaka weekly paper?
A. Weekly has time. Daily, you are pressed for time. Weekly, you have the luxury of time to relax, 'you know. And put more details in your story. Unlike a daily, you cannot put everything there eh, in one story, sometimes you have to follow it up the next day, and then the next day. Unlike the weekly, you can put everything there. And then you have the luxury of time to relax. But in a daily, you're in a hurry. Oo, you're in a hurry everyday.

Q. Sir, what was the difference in working for the print tapos you also worked for radio and television?
A. Print is more permanent that people can clip the story. Radio and TV is passive. And that's what we call passive. Once they see you or once they hear you that's it. That's all, wala na, tapos na, unless you get a copy or tape. Sa newspaper you can go back and back every time you want to read. You can go back, 'yun ang difference. Before…before Martial Law people…the newspapers are more prominent that the radio-TV, second-class yung radio-TV. But now, parehas na eh. Radio-TV 'tsaka newspaper reporter almost the same. Sikat pa nga yata ang radio-TV ngayon. Ganoon, 'yun ang difference.

Q. Sir, what…what happened when the Manila Evening Post closed down? Why did it close?
A. We ran out of advertisers kasi nobody wants to advertise anymore, dahil kay Cory, kalaban namin si Cory. So yung mga advertisers do not want to advertise with us anymore. So we had to close. At that time, 1987, we closed down the operations was about one million a day…no…one million a month. So wala nang nag-aadvertise. So we had to close down. Nobody wants to buy the paper also, so sinarado. But it was the number one afternoon daily before. There were two others but we were number one.

Q. Why did you leave the press industry?
A. In terms of pay nga, it's not worth it anymore eh. You can't live with ten thousand or thirty thousand a month. I have to go some place else eh. Even now, walang ano eh, walang…you cannot live eh, starvation pay pa rin eh. Except with TV, eh medyo, maganda-ganda sa TV, mas malaki-laki. Especially if you're a producer, pero sa newspaper eh even if you're an editor eh. Masaya ka lang kasi nakakagawa ka…let's say…specially special projects like you write special features. You have deeds or results to something good like for example…smokey mountain…mga ganoon. Happy na 'ko. Or like for example if there is a cause that you want to spouse tapos nakinig ang gobyerno. Pero in terms of pay, wala. So, you cannot…you cannot support a family. Kaya sometimes you end up as a PR in a public relations…In fact 'yun naman ang ano…The advantage is kilala ko naman yung mga nasa diyaryo kapag merong ano.

Q. What was the best thing you got from working as a journalist?
A. It developed my writing ability. It developed my…because in the newspaper, it's not so much…TV is more feature…it's more feature. Print is news. So, in working for print media, I was able to develop my…my writing…everything, style, even the manner by which you write, kasi pressed for time ka sa newspaper eh. You only have about 30 minutes to write your story. In fact 30 minutes…one hour is long. So, you develop your style that you can write your story even in a restrictive environment. And…and then…in the editorial office ang gulo eh…kasi lahat kayo…magulo, maingay. And the fact that you can write under those circumstances, is a good training.

Q. 'Yun lang po.
A. Ha?

Q. 'Yun lang po.
A. Ah okay.

Q. Thank you very much.