SORIA. Could you please describe the circumstances leading to your employment in The Inquirer?
ULANDAY. Well actually a friend of mine whom I worked with in the Philippines News Agency offered me a job in The Inquirer it was just set up a few months back, it was March 1986 and it was right after the Edsa Revolution. So I accepted the job because I thought it was time to move on to another endeavor and that The Inquirer at that time provided for me a challenge to prove my craft and to be able to help also in my own little way develop or improve a pledging newspaper which is The Inquirer at that time and I thought the cause by which The Inquirer want to set up was to my liking so I decide to join The Inquirer.

Q. So when were your early years in the newspaper?
A. Actually when I was still a student I worked for a Chinese-English newspaper, The United Daily News. This is something like a community paper, it's just circulated in the Chinese business community but some of my classmates in college in mass communications in The Institute of Mass Communications in UP Diliman actually worked for this newspaper company so I just thought to try my luck. So I was able to get in and that actually started my newspaper career but though I've been in love with journalism ever since actually since high school, (you love to write?) not only love to write but also to do newspaper work you know like editing, picking out pictures and lay-outing pages, (basically the whole thing) yes the whole experience and it helped that I chose journalism as an elective in highschool and that really set me because I got to love the work involved and the experience so infact I was chosen as the editor-in-chief of the school organ during my senior year so when I entered college actually I was so definite about the course I would take so I took journalism. So my first stint in the actual newspaper in work was with the United Daily News and then after that I joined an editorial writing group actually a private group and then I applied for a job in the Times Journal and then I was able to get in also. I actually applied as a business writer but when they you know, saw and read my credential the managing editor then asked me if I could try out for the news desk because I was told that they needed someone, a Deskman so I said I might as well try so I did try and then after a month they told me "you're in". I think, so my repertorial days were not actually that extensive in the sense that you know...(phone interrupts)...okay so well I worked there as a Deskman from 1981 to about 1983. 1983 I left the job and then I did some free lancing jobs for various publications for writing (still in news writing?), no, not really, mostly mga ano publication projects of private as well as public companies and then I went back to newspapering. I joined the, actually it was a wire agency, the Philippines News Agency, it's a government owned wire agency which has major newspapers and radio stations as well as television stations as clients. We supply the news. We have our own correspondent, bureaus all over the Philippines and we send out stories to them and since it's a government owned wire agency, it's mostly a government news stories but you know we have a lot of correspondents and writers who do write about a lot of things, feature stories, human interest stories, we got to know them as well and also pictures so, (you also take photographs before?) no but actually as a journalist we should be able to well not just take pictures but know a little bit about photography it helps you know because if you want to select some pictures, so you want to evaluate which one is better in terms of content, in terms of context, in terms of quality technical then you must be able to distinguish them if you have a background in photography. So right after PNA, Philippines News Agency, then after that I joined The Inquirer.

Q. So could you please describe the newspaper in terms of its physical location?
A. Physical location? Well it was accesible because the first office of The Inquirer was in the Port area and the building sits just right beside the main road where jeepneys and taxis actually pass by so actually I just take the jeepney and then it's just one ride coming from were I lived before. Well physical facilities, The Inquirer after immediately before Edsa Revolution and right after that was you know, it was like a market place actually, you know I mean the news room was really not big. We were a bit cramped there actually and that there was no clear distinctions as to where the business group and the editor and writer are and we were really closeted in a small area but you know it was quite "comfortable" because you get to know all the people working within the organization and at that time we really did not need a big room. Basically The Inquier was just starting at that time although it was really, it did make a good influence, a good impact on the readers because of its fearless views and I think the readership was then at around 200,000 and it even reached more than 300,000.

Q. How about the people you work with?
A. Mostly, well actually most of them were raw. It's a mixture actually, there were a lot of veteran reporters there, veteran columnists but at least around 60 to 65 percent were actaully raw journalism graduates who were just starting in their newspaper journalism career so there were a lot of of tutorials, coaching and they depended on us, well veteran in the sense that you know we've undergone newspaper experience before. Gerry Lirio was actually one of the raw staff members we had, infact he started out as a proof reader and now he rose.

Q. How about your working conditions?
A. Just fine. Our working conditions were just fine because The Inquirer at that time has really improved with the sense of mission. The goal is very clear from the start that you know, was set up actually to help inform the people better about the abuses of the Marcos regime and it continued to do so right after the Edsa Revolution by exposing all the possible anomalies or scams or scandals that we could take hold of and present them as news stories just to inform the people that these were the abuses done or committed during the Marcos regime. (So the paper wasn't scared that it might be banned?), no. Infact it was scared I heard because I wasn't in yet before the Edsa Revolution, I came in after during the revolt itself but it was number one in the list of publications to be closed down once the trouble subside. Trouble meaning the protests and even the mutinies staged already by Enrile and Ramos they were more scared at that time but after the revolt The Inquirer, I would say was the reading fair of the readers. Well it was nice to be a part of that experience actually.

Q. Were you ever a cub reporter?
A. Yes I was, (what was it like?), well it was scary you know, you don't know what's out there and you learn from school of course how to write, how to ask questions and you know probably how to get to your sources, conduct an interview you know things like that but when you're out there and you begin to go to the offices where your editor tells you to go for you to cover and then you go there and introduce yourself and then you're not really a reporter from a big newspaper like at that time The Bulletin, Express and Times Journal because I started out with United Daily News covering the business beat and...(phone interrupts) so it was in a way very, very scary because you'll be covering that beat together with the veteran reporters, senior reporters from the other major newspapers but it was in a way very challenging also because you want to prove yourself that you can be at par with these senior reporters but at any rate I never really had that bad experience when I came in and I was introduced as a reporter. At least the very first beats that I covered which were actually finance, BIR, Department of Trade and Industry and Central Bank. All of the senior reporters were just as accomodating and they were quite friendly. I learned a lot from them and they were just willing and eager to give you some advice on how to cover the beat, how to write some stories, how to do some angling on the stories and it helped me a lot so it wasn't bad at all. It was scary at first but it wasn't bad at all than it was very challenging because you know you get to really write because you know this is the real thing and it was quite exciting too. You get to meet a lot of people and actually you have to start developing your sources when you start out as a cub reporter.

Q. So how was your first beat, what was your first beat?
A. Business, Finance, Department of Finance, BIR which is actually under Department of Finance, so I covered that but you know they had their own PR Departments, Press Relations or Press Offices so first you had to go there and introduce yourself to the chief of the Press office and that's it. Department of Trade and Industry and also the Central a Bank. (So were you alone in that beat?), yes, for my newspaper.

Q. Did you have any memorable editors?
A. Well, actually my first editor of course was with the United Daily News, well I'd rather not comment. You know I learned a little more from my contacts with the other reporters covering than from him. You know he's not that really young anymore, he was quite old. His only concern then was for the paper, just for the paper to be out, to be finished and to be printed and distributed and circulated the next day. All details, well I got to learn from the reporters I worked with in the beat. But I had a very good editor when I worked with the Philippines News Agency and also during my work in the Times Journal. At least the managing editor there was really very professional.

Q. How was it when it came to accuracy, grammar, ethics. Were they very strict?
A. Yup they were, particularly with PNA. The editor there, Joe Fabia, was a terror you know. He was really a terror. Do you know how PNA operates? (no, how?) PNA has teletype machines. It's just like a computer, there are what you call type setters. What we do is all the stories are submitted to us. We go through them, we edit them and then once they're edited they go to the typesetters for them to input and once they're inputed they wove it into the wires. Now the editor has a monitor in his office so every story that is wove in the wire, he is able to read and you know once he spots a mistake then he picks up the phone and calls the newsdesk, and he knows who reviewed the story and of course if that's me, "Adel, I think your story is trash. Could you look at paragraph two...", you know things like that and then he would bang the phone that means you have to correct it or it would be something like a demerit for you.

Q. How about deadlines?
A. Deadlines of course the same thing, much more, because there are only two major rules in the newspaper basically, it's accuracy, accuracy, accuracy and deadline, deadline, deadline. Those are the bottom line, just two. You have to be accurate, you have to be fast and particularly for, let's say a wire agency, that's really a must because you know you're working for a major wire agency like Reuters, Associated Press, a Japanese Press then you really need to be accurate and fast for your agency to beat the competitor, the competition. So basically it's the same thing in newspapers, you know you have to beat the deadline for us to be able to print on the scheduled time. Otherwise you'll be late and other papers will be bought by the readers and they're not gonna wait for you. In The Inquirer there was a time before that even if we were late, people still waited because they want to really buy and read The Inquirer. But that was the past. Now people have become more sophisticated and they don't choose newspapers anymore so whichever comes first, that's the one they would buy, particularly in urban centers. People are always in a hurry so whatever they can get their hands on then that's what they grab.

Q. Do you have any experiences on not meeting the deadline?
A. Of course. (so what happened?) You have to have all of these experiences. I got reprimanded, I got scolded by my editors but you know in this kind of business you really have to be thick-skinned. You really have to be able to take whatever, as long as it is not personal. You know some editors sometimes they get too personal. Probably they don't like your face, or they don't like your writing style or they don't like the way you dress up, you know things like that. Those are the exceptions. Most editors are really high strung because of the deadline so if you don't meet the deadline, they give you usually a warning then after that you get reprimanded or scolded and you can even get suspended. In The Inquirer we have some policies, if you keep on piling your stories late, then either your stories will not be used first and second you'll get a reprimand asking you to explain why you're not piling your stories on time and third you might even be subjected to disciplinary action.

Q. Did you ever submit stories that were half done just to be able to submit something?
A. Yah a number of times but they could spot. No, well at least here in the Philippines there are some editors that are quite liberal. Once they see that you just made an effort just to be able to beat the deadline your work is half done, they usually call you and then ask you to do more because the deadlines, they usually set for the submission of piling the stories. They have a lead time there so if they can spot, you know need more details here in the story and you need to have more sources, then they still have time but of course the rule of communication actually is for you to submit your story as complete as possible meaning all the details are there, the sources are there. It's just up to the Desk how they're going to make use of the story or how they're going to rehash, redo the story but at least all the details are there.

Q. Do you have any memorable colleagues who influenced you a lot?
A. Ya, there's this guy who used to be the editor of Times Journal. Well I liked him as a news editor. Well as a news editor his main job was to, aside from selecting stories, he lays-out the front page and he's very good at it. He taught me some techniques and some principles to design the pages, so he's one guy. The other of course, was the managing editor then of the Times Journal, who I earlier said convinced me to join the Desk instead of becoming a business reporter. So this one guy who taught me the value of being so persistent in pursuing accuracy and the truth in the stories that you write and you edit. He's very, very, well let's say, he's a perfectionist. And of course, the editor-in-chief of the Philippines News Agency, the terror. Infact up to now we even talk sometimes.

Q. What were your best memories as a young reporter?
A. As a reporter? Well being near, to get close. I was able to go to places that I have never been to before at least in the Philippines the places I have never really got to visit maybe when I was working for a different company and mostly travels abroad. And of course, just meeting a lot of people is a wonderful experience.

Q. What significant events did you cover?
A. Actually I did cover, as a City editor of The Inquirer, I covered Cory's first travel as president and this took us to Indonesia and Singapore and it's a major event for me because I used to cover just the business side. This one has the ingredients in political, economic, social, and to be with the president. And you know I covered the Edsa Revolution. Well I think that's all because as I have explained earlier, my repertorial experience is not really that extensive it's more on editing stories so although I really wanted to go out there and write about events unfolding, I was just in the desk waiting for it, giving up instructions to reporters, as a City editor then, giving up instructions to all the reporters, all the photographers and collecting all of these then packaing them, the stories, the paper. So it's quite exciting in a way but there's no comparison when you're out there (it's a different thing) yes it's a different thing when you see reporters stacking up because you see police are already on the riot and they mob tear gas and you know canisters. We had areas before wherein they tell you, "Sir, Sir this person, there are, cough-cough dispersal, Sir sandali..." then we say cover up and I always tell them to carry a wet towel, face towel and when they see all of those tear gas canisters just cover, cover their nose and as much as possible their eyes because covering your nose and eyes with a wet face towel could save you from the that deadly gas.

Q. What were your memories as a reporter during Martial Law?
A. As a reporter, the fact that we were practically spoonfed with stories, was quite hard really you know to get some hard facts, particularly if you're interviewing government officials. And then when I was covering the business team wherein they just won't talk on condition that you know, the beats would be packaged. If they say off the record, that means you're not going to publish anything that they say, you can get a lot of stories, you can get a lot of ideas, you can get a lot of information but you know you cannot just write about that, and that's a big let down because as a journalist you just want to write anything that is possible but it was very difficult at that time. So you know I think the after the Edsa Revolution, sumobra naman, there was like an explosion of all kinds of stories, you know some without basis and there were new reporters so we really had to do a lot of checking, reviewing of the stories. Most of the times the stories were banned to be printed and we started getting libel suits and most of them also were not given the chance to have their side printed.

Q. From your point of view, do you see any positive gain during the Martial Law?
A. No. Well actually, only the cronies of Marcos gained during his regime.

Q. Do you have any bad experiences during these times?
A. Bad experinces? What do you mean, being threatened, jailed? (yes). Well, actually no. My colleagues, yes they were threatened and I thought if it could happen to them, well it could also happen to me so I was scared then but basically I had no personal threats during that time. Only maybe that I had limited writing to do. (So basically all the newspapers had the same news?) Yes, almost. Infact a Press Release statement that read "Today, Marcos said..", so that's how the Press Release says and our reporter just dictates to us over the radio because before we had radios and they don't go to the office anymore. So it reads " Marcos said today...", and our reporter just changes some of the words (they paraphrase instead?), yes just to make it sound different from the other paper but basically all the newspapers contained the same stories so if one buys this newspaper, he does not need another paper because you know, it's the same thing.

Q. Did your style in writing change when Martial Law was lifted?
A. Writing style, well actually I had no writing style, but ya my writing was limited and spoonfed when Martial Law was lifted. (You actually had more inhibitions when Martial Law was declared) ya during Martial Law, and actually when Martial Law was lifted in 1982, you were how old at that time? (3 or 4), how old are you now? (18), so yeah you were about 4 or 5, several newspapers were closed down. (What were the papers that were banned?) The Chronicle and Manila Times. The Manila Bulletin and Express, the crony newspapers, were those that were allowed to be published.

Q. Could you please give me, give those aspiring journalists some ways and tips on how to pursue their goal of becoming a good journalist?
A. Well just learn the craft. Read a lot. Don't only learn how to read, don't be contented on reading a lot, you should also know and understand it. And one more thing, stay humble because you may never know when you will be meeting that person again. Like Gerry Lirio. Gerry now has risen and we hope that he becomes the top editor of The Inquirer. Because you know, you may be meeting that person half way up or you might meet the person going down because you know once you're on top the only way for you is to go down. So, you should stay humble and also learn the craft.