SOME TIME in February this year, and if I recall, a few days after we finished the layout of the Quadricentennial supplement magazine—the issue that almost drained our energy which we were supposed to train on our undergraduate thesis defense—I saw a note calling the attention of one of our news reporters to get a “registered mail” at the UST Post Office. Wondering what the communication was all about, the news reporter and I went to the post office to get the mail without any inkling that the letter was a subpoena, informing the two of us that we had been slapped with a libel complaint.
During our first appearance before the Makati Prosecutor’s Office, we were informed that UST multi-deck carpark owner Edgardo Angeles had faulted the reporter and I as editor in chief for publishing an article last December about the UST administration’s law suit against the Carpark firm. Angeles cried foul that the report was released in the last week of January, in time for UST’s Quadricentennial, apparently for the article to get a wider audience and the better for him to be smeared in public. In our defense, we told the prosecutor that January 26 was really the release date of the Varsitarian after the December issue of the paper and the Christmas break. Angeles also claimed that the article was malicious and intended to malign his and his company’s reputation. But we, the two student-journalists who don’t even have cars to avail ourselves of the services of his carpark, maintained that the article was written in good faith and merely meant to inform the Thomasian community about what was happening in the University.
I wonder, where would malice come from? Apparently there’s a notion that the Varsitarian is part of the UST administration. Of course, there’s also the opposite notion that it’s the enemy of the administration. Both notions are mistaken. The Varsitarian is an independent campus paper. It tries to report events and tackle issues that affect UST in a manner that is accurate, objective, and fair. It is not pro- or anti-administration, pro- or anti-establishment. It is pro-truth.
I don’t hold a grudge against Mr. Angeles’ decision to file a lawsuit, as I understand that it is his right as an individual who feels he has been offended by a published report. If at all, the experience shows the need for the Varsitarian and the press in general to educate readers and the public on the role and function of a free press. For example, the Varsitarian staff has had to mollify some college officials who get mad when the paper reports a plummet in their board exam results. Their madness is misplaced since the Varsitarian has never failed to report in the past their excellent performances in state licensure tests.
But of course the Varsitarian is pro-Church. It is, after all, the official student paper of “The Catholic University of the Philippines.” But it practices its independence even if it declares to be the oldest Catholic campus paper in the country. And again for this, the paper has been jeered. For example, it has been lambasted for its pro-life stance. We have been labeled a “hypocrite” and a “lapdog” of the Church for our position against the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
Our detractors don’t understand that the UST administration or the Church hierarchy doesn’t even meddle with our editorial operations and positions. Our position on the RH bill is derived from our declaration of editorial principles, in which we view ourselves as a Catholic paper; so therefore we tackle events and issues from the Catholic point of view, or based on the principles of natural law, Thomism, and Catholic social ethic. And if they were not born yesterday, our critics would realize that the Varsitarian has been reporting even on negative issues hounding the Church.
Sometimes, it is quite frustrating to see all the brickbats we get despite our earnest efforts to maintain a quality fortnightly paper while struggling individually to maintain a satisfactory academic standing.
So to you who are reading this paper, please realize that that the paper you pay for during enrollment is an independent paper that tries to practice its independence responsibly and along the line of Catholic social ethic. Peruse every issue that the Varsitarian staffers struggle to release, savor every story they research and write—and be a little more kind and try to understand.
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When I look back and recall the turn of events in my stay in the Varsitarian, I couldn’t imagine how I managed, and—with all modesty—survived the big shift that happened in my writing vocation. From a news reporter, I woke up one day at the helm of this premiere campus paper, naturally striving to maintain it as the best student publication in the country, at least for those who know how we operate. So it would be ungrateful if I would not thank those individuals who, in one way or another, helped me to endure the laborious publication year 2010-2011.
To our advisers, Sir Lito, Sir Ipe, and Sir Ian: I am lucky to meet people like you. Your stature as journalists has inspired me to take in my journalism education, dreaming that one day I would be at par with your caliber. For a year, I felt like a professional journalist because of the privilege of working with you. Salamat po.
To my former editors, Ate Dan, Prinz, and Emil: during those times that I had to make a decision when confronted with an editorial or a managerial dilemma, I would always return to the foundations and lessons I learned from the three of you. Thank you so much.
To Dioqs, thank you for the 15 issues of unwavering concern and dedication, I could not imagine this year without your “watchful eyes.” Indeed, you are God’s gift to the Varsitarian.
To the Quadricentennial staff, thank you for enduring a tiring year with a cranky EIC. I will always pray for you and for the Varsitarian.
And to Him, whose goodness toward someone like me is unbelievable and unimaginable, thank you for the guidance and the grace.
Now, after I have obtained by Journalism degree and as I end my term as this paper’s editor, I can now say: I am proud to be a Thomasian, but I am prouder to be a Varsitarian staffer! Minsang ‘V’, Mananatiling ‘V’!
