Fearless Eggie

Here's the entire article on Ms. Eugenia Apostol, founding chairperson of Philippine Daily Inquirer, part of which appeared in today's issue of the newspaper. The piece was cut due to space limitations. Chelo Banal Formoso, editor of PDI's Learning section, gave me permission to reprint the piece in this blog.

She kept her speech short and sweet the way she once wrote the breezy headlines and captions on the newspaper and magazine pages she closed. She went about the task briskly and snappily in the same way she decided to open the publications (Mr. & Ms. Special Edition, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pinoy Times) and start advocacy work (the Education Revolution) that would alter this nation’s life.

This year’s recipient of the Ateneo Parangal Lingkod Sambayanan (public service award), Eugenia D. Apostol, 82, looked back during the awards ceremony on a make-or-break moment in her early childhood.

Apostol said when she was around three or four years old in Sorsogon, her mother left for church and her physician-father for work. When she saw the coast was clear, she decided to follow her mother, somehow losing her way. A kind woman offered her candy. Touched, young Eugenia followed the woman to the Albay-bound bus and sat with her. The conductor recognized the child as the daughter of the sanitary inspector and hauled her out of the bus, returning her to her father.

“Where would I be now without that alert bus conductor?” Apostol ended her spiel with the audience in stitches.

Vicente Tirol, whom she invited to be Pinoy Times publisher, asked her this before considering her offer: “Do you have any sacred cows?”

“Should I?” she shot back.

He said, “True enough, she never asked me or any of Pinoy Times’ editors to treat anyone in that manner. She was one for issues and causes, like the levy that (former President) Marcos imposed on coconut farmers. She not only wanted a story done on the issue right away, but she asked for follow-ups and expected the editors to stay with the issue until action was taken on it. Principle and persistence—these were her hallmarks as a journalist.”

Inquirer art director Lynett Villariba’s first encounter with Apostol was a case of mistaken identity. Her University of the Philippines professor told her to go to the Chronicle Bldg. where, she said, “the displaced (by martial law) news people were setting up a tame women’s magazine right under the noses of the military guards who were securing the place to ensure the printing plant was only taking commercial, not subversive, jobs.”

She went past labyrinthine corridors and checkpoints before knocking on a door. A gentle voice asked her in. She found a petite lady behind a big desk covered with papers and magazines.
“I am looking for Mister Eddie Apostol,” Villariba announced.

Ms. Apostol’s assistant put the young applicant in her place. After a brief exchange, the lady behind the desk told her to get started right away.

“That was how I was initiated into a media guerilla operation which marked Ms. Apostol’s ventures,” Villariba said. “She required a name plate, logo design or layout started on the spot, right after discussing how she wanted a publication projected in street sales, how it would be held in commuters’ hands on their ride to work. She waited for your creative juices to flow, telling you ‘No rush,’ but actually meaning in an hour's time, ora mismo, or the next day.”

Villariba said the Apostol publications (Woman’s Home Companion, Mr. & Ms., Philippine Daily Inquirer, the EDSA books) where she participated in are marked by “a spontaneous look, no feasibility study, just social sensitivity. She had a keen instinct. Her instant critiques were capped by generous praise, a warm pat on the back for a job well done coupled with a bonus. She made me know that she was happy with my work. That to me is the mark of a great life coach and career mentor.”

Lorna Kalaw Tirol, another baby of Tita Eggie (colleagues’ endearment for Apostol), said, “I met her when I was a senior journalism major at St. Theresa’s College. Bibsy Carballo, my teacher, told my class that the editor of Woman and Home magazine, Sunday supplement of Manila Chronicle, was looking for young contributors. Whoever was interested could go see her at the Chronicle building in Intramuros. I was the only one who was interested. I went to see Eggie (with my mother!), she asked me a few questions, then gave me an assignment.

“That first assignment led to others,” Tirol continued. “When I graduated, Eggie took me in as an apprentice. I was hoping to be hired as a staff writer. But the apprentice’s pay was measly (P25 or P50 a week) so I left after two months to teach at STC high school. I started writing for Eggie again when I went back to the Chronicle as a desk editor. When Vic and I got married in 1971, she was a logical choice to be one of our ninangs (godmothers) because she was my first media boss. Vic got Johnny Mercado, his first media boss.”

She said Apostol was “an out-of-the-box thinker even then. That’s why she gets along with Gilda Fernando. She’s a real maverick who likes to explore, blaze new trails and see how far she can go. A fearless risk taker, she dared take on Marcos and then Erap, no matter what doing so cost her. She just laughed off threats of libel suits, prison and being fed to the crocodiles.”

Tirol said, “She was also exacting and demanding but never arrogant and mean. She was thoughtful and considerate of her staff. Pusong mamon (soft-hearted). She would give generous help to those with sob stories. Pero nakaka-tense at nakakaloka kung minsan kasi makulit (she could make you tense and crazy from her demands). She wanted things done right away. Or started yesterday and finished tomorrow.”

From Apostol she learned “how to work with heart and soul; with integrity and an independent mind and courage. Her whole professional life, as a journalist, and now as an advocate of people power and of every Filipino’s right to an education, has been a priceless gift to the nation. Ateneo must be congratulated for having chosen wisely."