ENCARNACION & ICASAS. Good afternoon sir. Itatanong ko lang po kung paano kayo nagstart sa photojournalism.
RODRIGUEZ. Well its... mahaba't nakakatuwang istorya, eh. When my family migrated in 1970 to Hawaii I was in fine arts- advertising in UST in... '66. My mom bought me a small camera, a plastic one, the brownie. So pagdating sa Hawaii kase, mahilig ako sa mga legs ng chicks... Every weekend, nandoon ako sa Waikiki beach. So to make this story short, mayroong one Sunday, mayroong isang diplomat... sinave siya nang muntik siyang malunod... parang Baywatch ba, ganoon. So sinave siya... sa Maynila kase we call it "uso yung mga usyusero"... nakapaligid doon habang pinagfirst-aid naman siya. Ang unang luwang yung mga legs ng mga chicks, tapos nandoon yung lifeguard sina-save niya yung life nung... diplomat from Finland iyon eh. So umuwi na ako, tapos about... before 9pm may pumunta sa amin na Amerikano. Tinatanong kung may nakatirang Valentino Rodriguez doon sa bahay na iyon. Sabi ng nanay ko, "teka muna," sabi niyang ganoon. So pumasok sa kuwarto ko ang mother ko at tinatanong niya sa akin, "anong ginawa mo ngayon, Vince, anong ginawa mo?" Kase ako yung pinakapilyo sa pamilya namin... you call it a "black sheep" of the family. Sabi ko "wala naman akong ginawa, nagkuha ako ng litrato't nagligo ako sa beach," sabi kong ganoon. Pero sabi ng galing UPI, "we learned that he was able to take photo- graphs this afternoon," then my mom was... tinawag kaagad ako ng nanay ko na, "oh, this is my son, this is my son," proud na proud siya, the first time when I was four, the second time yung sinabi ko. So ginamit ng UPI yung photo ko noon, but then, iyon ang pagkakaumpisa ng nagstringer ako sa UPI, and after about mga four months ginawa nila akong regular stringer sa Hawaii. So pupunta ako doon, they give me films... Binabayaran ako per photo. Ang bayad noong araw sa per photo is 3 dollars lang. So, walang photo, walang excuse kase walang ibang salary iyon. Parang Manila you base it on correspondents. Correspondents sa Manila naman kase... pay by photos din. Luckily naman, in less than a year naging staffer ako ng UPI. So 'di na asa ako ng asa. Natuto na rin ako... magsipsip ng kahit kaunti. So later from Hawaii I was assigned to Guam and then Cambodia, so doon ako nasanay, tapos my good friend and my kumpadre the late Willie Hickoy, siya yung kasama ko sa UPI. Tapos, off and on, travel kami from one country to another. I worked with UPI from 1971 hanggang 1979 ... It was bankrupt eh... so binili ng Reuters ang UPI. So I applied with AP, so doon muna ako tapos staff photographer din ng AP. Kasama ko is Bulit Marquez. Bulit is now working with AP as the head. So we covered everything... It's a good thing that I was able to have experience sa international, kase iba ang photo consumption ng international. Like in Manila nowadays, all you have to do is something about the Philippines lang. Asides from winning international awards, I'm also the first Filipino to work with UPI and AP. Then when I was with AP I was going to L.A., Malaysia, Singapore... Then in late 1982 I went to New York and Washington, then my assignment to Boston where I covered Ninoy, in Boston where they lived before the President... So that was almost 8 months hanggang bumalik si Ninoy sa Maynila and he was assassinated. I was the first Filipino photographer who was on the plane and who was with Ninoy in Boston and who was with Jack and the family to shoot them everyday until he was assassinated in NAIA. So I was the only photographer who was able to ship the film, so I was with Ninoy on the plane... ewan ko kung natatandaan niyo yung 500 pesos na kuha ni Ninoy na nakaganoon... it was my photo. And when Ninoy was shot on the tarmac, it was also my photograph. It was a good thing that... my film kase... I had with me my... American reporters. Connecting flight dapat, eh from Manila to Hong Kong. So noong nangyari yung assassination na iyon, siya na lang ang pumunta sa Hong Kong, so I gave him the film kaya iyon ang nakalabas at iyon ang ginamit ng Time, ng Newsweek... I was with AP then. My experience as a photojournalist working with with an international agency is like... parang once a day... once a week we have to clean the office, really clean the office, scrub the floor, I mean, that's the thing na... Maswerte tung iba ngayon, nakakahawak sila ng camera. Kami mga camera namin noong araw... maswerte na rin ako, nakahawak ako ng camera not like... There's also Langit who worked with the Star, and we have fourteen photographers really working hard. It's a nice experience. Sinabi nga nila, from rag to camera to rag nanaman. And then in '86 I was invited with Mrs. Aquino, when she assumed office of the President of the Philippines she invited me to work with her. So I had to resign from AP and... maganda yung experience, nakakatuwa. When I was with AP I was receiving salaries from sixty five to almost eighty thousand a month. When I worked with Mrs. Aquino my first salary from the government was four thousand pesos. Sabi nga ni Mrs. Aquino talagang nahiya naman siya pero ako naman, I get my precedent diba? Excuse me. And then, iyon nga, I worked with Mrs. Aquino, I go with her sa kanyang address sa US Congress. I met three US Presidents, bale si Reagan, Bush at si Bill Clinton. I worked with her six... six years yung term ni Mrs. Aquino. Then I met the late Mrs. Betty Go Belmonte, chairman of the Philippine Star group. And it was really my honor to meet her, tapos she invited me to work with the Star to organize the photo, and unfortunately, my first day in the office of Star... iyon yung wake niya, 'cause she died four days before I started working with the Star. It's... it's an honor pero... I mean... sana napagsilbihan ko pa siya ng matagal, kaya I won't be here kung 'di kay Mrs. Betty Go Belmonte and hopefully maski maliit, nakatulong ako sa photo section ngayon dahil what we do dito sa Star naman kasi is to organize them into sections and also maintain yung parang, international. Like we can transmit photographs anywhere. You can send photos if you're in Mindanao, or in Jolo, or in... a President's visit to any part of the country... We can transmit photographs in five minutes. So we were the first who started using mga... high technique in photojournalism nowadays.

Q. So sir... regarding po sa President. Ano po yung mga usually na kinukuhanan nila?
A. Well, kay Mrs. Aquino... actually I covered Marcos pa before. I covered Marcos, I covered Imelda, Aimee, Aileen, Bongbong...

Q. So what were you doing? Yung kay Marcos, sir...
A. Yung kay Marcos I was with UPI when we covered a day... day to day out of town ni Marcos and Imelda noon. When I was with AP then, kinokoberan pa din namin sila. Pinakamalaking kinoberan namin as far as Marcos is concerned is... Irene's wedding... when when the film center opened... some local festival... It's hard to cover Marcos, really. Kase maswerte ka kung makadikit ka ng ten feet, eh. Normally very strict yung security niya. So 'di mo naman maalis... pero we were having a hard time talaga.

Q. So what about the President... the other President?
A. Well, si Mrs. Aquino, I should say hindi ako nahirapan kase I have all the privilege eh. I'm her personal and official photographer... yung photographer niya for six years. And when I work with her, believe this, I have to shoot her inside the Presidential office anytime. It's trivia, I was able to shoot the whole family, yung mga apo niya, all the daughters niya, and now Congressman Noynoy. 'Cause everything I shoot... iyon din yung kanyang calendar photos at family photos niya. So mayroon nang... minsan may time na... mayroon akong mga kuhang ... na para for photo release. Minsan hindi nagagamit kase mayroon ding ibang mga diyaryo na nandoon. So yung kanyang... everytime she'd go out of town and Manila or out of the country , state visit, working visit, I'm always there. Pagbukas mo ng pinto nandoon na ko.

Q. Sir, mga photos niyo ng President. Saan niyo po siya dinadala?
A. Well, yung kay Mrs. Aquino... yung mga photos niya sinelect ko lang... like... once a month I select siguro, the most is about from five to ten lang, at minsan wala pa. So ginagawa ko every quarterly, ginagawa ko minsan yung album, para pagkatapos ng Presidency niya makikita niya yung mga litrato ng local visits sa provinces, yung mga officials niya sa Malacanang and some foreign countries naming nabiyahe, and the family. And also yung holy week, the whole family goes to La Union, swimming... Kaya lang marami... May kuha akong nagswiswimming siya na ako lang talaga nandodoon. It's not for public use. Yung tawag nga namin, it's for their eyes only. Parang what I did when I sent it to Aquino kase hindi yung kanyang... a little bit of the Presidency, parang ginawa ko sa kanya... parang "a day in the life with Mrs. Aquino". Tapos all the negatives kase nasa kanya. Noong nagsama ako magwork sa kanya she'd buy her own film. It's not the government's money, it's Mrs. Aquino's money. And she'd pay everything, for the film, for the prints ... So iba yung press office. So there's a real photographer, but sometimes 'pag hindi pwede ako na lang ang magbibigay ng litrato doon sa press office ng Malacanang.

Q. Sir, let's go back to Marcos. 'Di ba martial law noon? Were there some kind of restrictions about... 'di pwede kuhanin?
A. Yes, definitely.

Q. Sir, what kind of restrictions?
A. Well, restriction... I was with UPI, okay? So during martial law hindi kami pwede magrelease ng photo because, we got a single photo of Marcos, we had to bring it to Malacanang first and they will decide kung... Kung lumuluha si Marcos hindi puwede, kase may sakit siya noon, eh. Kung doble ang baba ni Imelda hindi puwede. Oo, iyon talaga ang restriction. Talagang very strict sila sa litrato dahil... akala nga namin, noong araw kase noong dineklara yung martial law... Ako naitago ko pa yung tinatawag namin transmitter na malaki. Ngayon, sa laptop na ngayon. Talagang it's a huge transmitter namin ngayon. Naitago ka pa yon kaya nakapagtransmit kami ng photos. One month lumalabas ng Pilipinas na hindi nila alam. So nagugulat sila, pinasurvey, pinainbentaryo kami. So lahat ng mga litrato namin pakita sa Malacanang, interviewhin ang mga litrato. So finally after one year, binigyan na lang kami ng parang... say ...nagtiwala din sila na ilalabas naming litrato mga magaganda, ganoon... Kase hindi naman puwede kunan si Marcos na sumusubo.

Q. Sir parang... pwede na para kay Marcos na top na President... hindi siya...
A. It's always... it's good looking... as far as Marcos is concerned. Kami, gusto namin, kung puwede nga lang kumakamot ka sa tainga mo, sumusubo siya, humihikab ka... Kase iyon ang tinatawag na "human interest" photo eh, hindi yung nakaupo ka lang, eh. Parang ganoon... So may panahon ni Marcos din na... hanggang ngayon nandiya-diyan pa rin mga kuha ko sa Hawaii, noong umalis siya noon 1986, nasa AP pa ako noon.

Q. So sir, where do you develop your photos... do you develop it yourself?
A. Now, with the Star?

Q. Yeah, and in the past rin.
A. No, before, you know, when I was with the AP we had our own... kase way back... ten, twenty years ago or fifteen years ago or something we used only black and white film. So nagstart ang, let's say the '80s, late '80s na, everybody's using colored na. So once every while kami magdedevelop. Kase, sometimes ang temperature magiging parang gamot. Pero now we take it within fifteen minutes to twenty minutes. Meron nga developing sa labas eh. Kami nga, ganoon. Mayroon kami scanner dito, papadevelop ng negatives sa labas, and some of us gumagamut na ng digital camera. So yung negative, dinevelop namin, pupunta sila dito, iiscan namin yung negative. Eto yung... may mga scanner kami, tapos we have this new digital camera. Let's say ... maybe one of the most expensive digital cameras. There's no film, it's just memory, it's a small screen, so iyon yung technology ng photojournalism ngayon, talagang... I should say ... grabe.

Q. So sir, sino ba yung naalala niyong mga... kasabay niyo na photojournalists... at yung mga memorable na naging boss niyo?
A. Well, yung naging boss ko when I started with UPI... My boss then before is... well, he passed away... he was... I should say he was a veteran of Vietnam and he gave me some moral traits na... There are times when titignan niya yung photo ko tapos ibabalibag niya. Siyempre may ego ka hindi ba? Parang ganoon, parang binabalewala niya yung... His name is Jim Boudieu, Jim Boudieu. But he passed away. He gave me all the technique, all the advices in the world na kailangan ko as far as photojournalism is concerned. And actually my idol is... the war photographer, he's Robert Kapa, sabi ko nga eh, kase he also died in the war. Ako, kung mamamatay ako gusto ko ganoon din. I mean, he really... yung mga black and white shots niya, and my boss dati with AP is Jim Palmer. He also... and some Japanese guy who worked with AP. It's really nice to work with international photographers. You learn a lot. Ako naman... hanggang ngayon and some, kailangan... parang... admit kung ano yung mali mo. Itong dalawahang ito let's say na you perfect it every minute and every hour ng... it's a day to day life kase medyo... like right now we have to pick our photos, 'cause we have several section editors with this newspaper, kailangan lahat iyon mayroon kaming mga beat eh. There's one, Willie Hickoy. He's a good photographer, he's a family man, unfortunately he died in Isabela. Now, internationally and local guys I admire, let's see... si Bulit. Si Bulit Marquez... Eric de Castro... mostly I admire the Luneta photographers. No, kase... it's just like... nandoon sila, naandito lang kami. We're holding expensive cameras, they're holding cameras that they bought at their own expense. New mga camera namin and... they also have families and we have families... sila nagtiyatiyaga sila roon everyday, you know, under the sun, under the rain. Pareho lang kaming... and some- times they create better photographs than ours pero bihira sila mabibigyan ng break, and mayroon ding sigurong fault na... kaya napapagalitan yung mga Pilipino, eh. Like now, mayroong ibang mga diyaryo pa rin na "tama na iyan! Pwede na iyan!" Parang... sa akin siguro, minsan sa akin parang pwede na, pero pagdating sa editor ko, ako naman ang ipupull-out. Kase like us, with all fourteen here, 'pag ganoon magkamali yung ibang photographer, ako yung boss, ako bale yung responsible. I'm the driver. So everyday, ilalabas ko yung jeep. Maghahanap ako ng gasolina, maghahanap ako ng pambaon... so kung 'di ko makuha iyon... mayroong isang ... talagang zero kami. Believe it or not talagang zero. Mayroong araw na ganoon, lalo pa nga kung weekend.

Q. So, sir yung paghanap ng photos, hindi naman pagaraw-araw may rallies diyan or something. So how do you get your photos? Paano kayo naghahanap?
A. Well, photos... like... Working with the Star, we have several section editors. To start off we have the sports editors, editors for entertainment, editors for lifestyle and business. Everyday I have two photographers assigned to Quezon City. So they go to Camp Aguinaldo, they go to Camp Crame, and they go to Central Police District. So day to day, naandoon sila. We have one guy in Caloocan and we have two guys in Metro Manila. So everyday we call if mayroong mangyayari... mayroong pulis na tumatakbo diyan. So the only thing siguro is from time to time I advise them... and it's not... you shoot straight "firing squad". I mean... parang... papanoorin mo ng kaunting drama. And everyday we have... sports assignment. We have advertising assignments pa rin, supplement. Kaya ang mga ginagawa namin everyday... three hundred sixty-five days diba? Hindi pa naaalis yung pasko, no? Three hundred sixty-five days a year, andodoon. Everyday we work, wala kaming mahal na araw.

Q. So no holidays?
A. No holidays. For me kase I'd rather go out work, yung Noche Buena? Yung... work on New Years? Ako mas gusto ko gagawa ako ng fireworks or... ayoko na mayroong namang nagpuputukan... like... minsan kami, or maybe I'm speaking for myself... ako 'pag naglalakad ako, parang impression ko... maslalo na 'pag ako nag-iisa, parang gusto ko palagi mayroong mangyayari. Ang sama! Ang sama ng iniisip ano? Pero trabaho namin iyon eh. Kaysa many mahulog sa building tapos nakunan ng iba tapos lumabas sa kinabukasan 'di ko nakunan. Eh, nandodoon ako, eh. Kumbaga the only thing for us is... the right time and the right place.

Q. So sir, diba sa dami ng mga photographers... sino yung pumipili ng photos niyo?
A. I see to it sa kanila, like si Jun Mendoza, it should... ikaw pipili ng litrato mo. And then sa dalawa iyan eh. 'Pag nagbigay ka ng panget, mumurahin ka ng section editors, yung section editors, ako naman yung mumurahin. So parang nakaroon na kami ng relationship na maganda ng mga section editors. Sinasabi namin na... So these guys are proffessionals. Our photographers with us are proffessionals. They have experience... I have Mike, Jun and Joey, yung cousin niya kase ito tung mga may dugo eh. Kase mga tatay nila original, mga nasa Manila Times, yung mga... yung mga original, yung sinasabi kong may dugong photographer kase their father passed this way also. Ito yung ... mga pagapak nila eh. Yung mga photographers namin ang atay sa labas. They select their own photos. Tapos kung may time, tinitignan namin. Tapos makikita namin properly captioned, properly named, left to right, tapos bibigyan namin sa editorial iyon. Tapos everyday, mayroong editorial meeting na tinatawag, 4:30 to thirty minutes iyon. Alam niyo na kung ano yung use, kung yung banner naka-focus, kung yung tinatawag naming main, sa taas, tung tinatawag namin... So iyon ang day to day na... We select our own photographs, kase trusted ko naman sila na sila ang pipili ng mga... Pero hindi namin kinukunan yung mga sosi-sosi... 'di valid iyon.

Q. So, sir yung... compared po yung mga suweldo dato sa ngayon, how much is it na?
A. Ah... yung mga kasama ko?

Q. Yes... or...
A. Oh, yung mga kasama ko... I mean... I think for me... the management is... I'm talking about all the employees ng Star, no... The printing, lahat ng janitors. The management is so concerned about their employees. You won't believe this, kase we have several bonuses for the past one year. So mayroon talaga kaming... Salary-wise... speaking for myself I think I have enough... mayroon na akong panlinis ng motorsiklo ko. Kase ... yung bike yung motorcycle na hobby ko. At nakabili ako ng... I got my own personal camera... so iyon ang... Salary wise, I think it's fair enough.

Q. So sir, diba dati per picture po yung bayad sa mga photographers?
A. Kung... tawag kase doon is... per picture if you're a correspondent.

Q. Opo, parang sinabi...
A. Or a stringer. We call it internationally "stringer" eh. Pagka locally tawag doon "correspondent".

Q. So 'pag... parang employee ka...
A. 'Pag employee you're "staff" na. And you're parang... ewan ko lang, fifteen thirty ka na.

Q. So sir yung, as a photojournalist saan yung laging kinover ninyo, and po yung pinakamemorable, parteng pinaka... nagtaas sa career niyo?
A. Well, everyday... lahat... which is more of experience-wise... Well in 1973 when I was in Cambodia doing a photo review, there was one photo there na... I was fortunately... I won the Pulitzer. Tapos when Ninoy was assassinated... yun ang medyo memorable, tapos iba yung kaunting ganoon. Tapos working with Mrs. Aquino... siguro 'di ko makakalimutan. Well, ang isang sad story is the chairman of the Star group... yun nga... my day one ko sa Star is... I covered her wake. Iyon ang... iyon di ko makakalimutan iyon. It's not my happiest moment, I should say... it's one of my saddest moments na... I'm here now as the head. Without her, hindi ako makakapasok dito. Tapos noong makuha nga ako ng Star, yung day one ko... ang first shot na what I got is yung photograph of the chairman... my boss the late Betty Go Belmonte. It's so sad but... siguro iyon talagang kailangan... that's part of photojournalism, yung ganoon. It's a good thing, 'cause I started working with the Star late 1994. Kase after Mrs. Aquino, Ramos, kinuha pa ako ni Ramos, eh. So siya yung bago sa Malacanang. I quit na, kase pikon si Ramos, eh. So all capital iyon, walang quote iyon. All... pikon talaga wala nang... but he's a good friend.

Q. So sir, thank you for...
A. Anytime.