Veteran journalist Ruben Alabastro, who worked for esteemed news organizations in the Philippines and overseas, died on Thursday, June 20, according to his daughter.
Alabastro served as one of the editors for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, where he moved after working for the Reuters news agency. He was 83.
“Ruben Alabastro, notable journalist and editor for prominent news organizations, including the Philippine Daily Inquirer where he served as the chief of the news day desk, has died, according to his daughter Rachel Alabastro-Federez,” Inquirer said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Former Inquirer business reporter Dax Lucas described Alabastro as a ‘makulit na (stubborn) editor, but first class journalist.’
“I’ll never forget the piece he wrote for Reuters in 2001 where he interviewed slum dwellers who joined the failed ‘Edsa Tres’ uprising,” Lucas wrote on his X account, paying tribute to Alabastro.
Lucas said Alabastro once asked an old lady, who joined the march towards Malacañang on why she supported former President Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada as opposed to his successor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the time.
The old lady replied in Tagalog: “Our lives are the same whether the president is Erap or Gloria. We were poor then, we are poor now. The difference is that Erap treated us like human beings.”
“Powerful,” Lucas said of the quote with a flexed bicep emoji.
The Manila Standard sends its condolences to the Alabastro family and the friends of the late Ruben.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “‘First-class’ journalist Ruben Alabastro writes 30.”