The family of the late Thomasian journalist Nestor Mata donated his books to the UST Miguel de Benavides Library on Wednesday, June 14.
Mata was the lone survivor of the 1957 plane crash that killed President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
Most of the books were about politics, journalism, history, and geography.
Among the 846 books from the collection was a signed copy of “One Came Back,” a memoir that the journalist wrote with Vicente Villafranca documenting the last moments of Magsaysay and Mata’s experience after surviving the plane crash.
“He’s a political analyst, so he read mostly on foreign politics. We have a library at home really meant for all the books he has read, including encyclopedias,” Nestor Francis Mata Jr., Mata’s youngest son, told the Varsitarian.
Mata earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University. He taught journalism and political science courses at the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters.
Mata wrote for the Philippines Daily Express until 1986 and became a columnist for the Manila Standard beginning in 1987. In 1999, he began writing a column for Malaya newspaper.
Mata died in 2018 at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Hospital in San Juan, Manila.
The UST Library said some books will be placed in the Filipiniana section for “easy access to the students.”
“By placing it on the shelves of our library, we hope many future writers and journalists will benefit from it and become true professionals in the service of God and on land,” said UST Prefect of Libraries Fr. Angel Aparicio, O.P. Angeli Ruth R. Acosta
