During the Holy Week, I had enough time to recall my beginnings as a journalist. I have been in the business for over 66 years now, having gone full circle in print, radio and television.
I used to dream of being a lawyer. In fact, having lawyers and doctors in the family was the dream of Ilocano parents. This is why I took law electives when I was a Bachelor of Arts student at Ateneo right after the Japanese occupation. And then I pursued law studies.
But four years before I became a lawyer, I volunteered, together with my friend and classmate Rudy Tupas, to help the Oblate missionaries of Cotabato (which was a big province at that time; not divided as it is now) with their weekly publication, the Mindanao Cross.
Santa Banana, at that time, the newspaper had 70,000 to 80,000 copies printed weekly. It was required reading in all Notre Dame schools run by the Oblate missionaries.
The reason the late Oblate Fr. Cuttbert Billman readily accepted us was that Tupas was editor in chief and I was associate editor of The Guidon, Ateneo’s paper that was named, numerous times, as the Best School Publication.
My two-year stay as editor of the Mindanao Cross in Cotabato City at that time was a learning experience. This was also where I met my wife. I was assigned to every provincial and city agency.
And how I loved my job.
After my stint in Cotabato City, I returned to Manila to continue my law studies even as I did not enjoy it much. I passed the Bar in 1954 and found myself the junior partner of the Salonga & Ordoñez Law Offices on Escolta, the premier address at that time.
I was, however, not too happy as a lawyer. I wanted some adventure and excitement.
But at that early age, I must have had the printer’s ink in my veins. I loved so much the morning meetings at the defunct Botica Boie on Escolta to discuss economic and political issues.
Thus, when I had the opportunity to join The Philippines Herald, at that time run by the late taipan and mogul, Don Vicente Madrigal, I grabbed it. By a stroke of good luck, the business editor at that time had to take time off because he was reviewing for the Bar. So I applied for the post, complete with a recommendation letter from Don Vicente. Then-Herald editor in chief Felix Gonzales pointed to a desk with a typewriter and said: “Jurado, that is your desk and you are now business editor.”
I knew my prayers were heard.
My legal training, however, did not go to waste. In fact, it helped me as a journalist because I tended to look at things from a legal standpoint.
Six decades later, I am still here. And I can say that journalism is not a profession but a calling.
If you think journalism is a way to get rich, think again. I was just lucky for having a wife who worked long and hard for our family. At times, she earned more than I did.
This is why I am still pounding on my old Olympia typewriter.
***
The Social Weather Stations March 26-28 survey says 78 percent of Filipinos are satisfied with President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on illegal drugs, while 12 percent are dissatisfied. Thus there is a net satisfaction rating of 66 percent, classified as “very good.”
This score is 11 percentage points below and one grade lower from the government’s “excellent” showing of 77 percent net (85 percent satisfied, 8 percent dissatisfied) in the previous survey held in December.
What is more significant, however, is that the same survey also showed 73 percent saying that they are worried that they or someone they knew would become victims in Duterte’s war against drugs.
It also found that 66 percent felt it “very important” and 26 percent felt it “somehow important” that suspects involved in illegal drugs be capture alive.
The SWS survey added that opinion is split about the claim of the Philippine National Police that those killed were resisting arrest. Twenty-four percent say the police are telling the truth but 31 percent say they are lying.
Santa Banana, I find this SWS poll disturbing!
In fact, I would like to say this should be a wake-up call for President Duterte to evaluate his campaign against illegal drugs. It is clear that public support for it is waning.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, former PNP chief, had stated that the police must take a new tack in the war against drugs. Authorities should concentrate on finding out who are involved in extrajudicial killings if the administration expects public support.
Malacañang cannot just disregard the findings of SWS even as it may not like them. While the net satisfaction rating remains high, I can predict that the next numbers will not be as good. Support is waning, and this is a message loud and clear. Mr. Duterte and PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa must listen.
***
In 1996, President Fidel Ramos went on a state visit to Moscow. I was with the business delegation that joined the President on this trip and I suggested to him that we businessmen should organize ourselves into a group that would help any President, not just FVR, in attracting foreign investments.
Ramos thought of “Team Philippines” but many did not like it because it sounded like an athletic team. It was soon rebranded into Philippines Inc.
When Benigno Aquino III came to power, he was cool to Philippines Inc. “because Jurado is in it.” That’s when I resigned.
Under the Duterte administration, Philippines Inc. somehow became irrelevant. The President had his own choice of whom to bring— a group that now includes the blogger, Mocha Uson.