MY path to the media profession was circuitous, beginning when I joined a youth group organized by two Cebu media persons who in the process gave me a glimpse of how journalists worked in the late ‘70s. I was in college then, and a staff of the student publication, although my goal that time was really to become a chemical engineer. Writing was but among my extra-curricular activities.
The path would lead me months later to the now defunct Broadcast Production and Training Center (BPTC) where I was among those who underwent training on broadcast work. I remember that episode not only for what I learned but also because of the acquaintances I forged. That training resulted in my having been recruited by then dyLA news director Gary Bacolod as part-time news writer.
Those in my batch included John Manalili, who would later become a popular Cebu broadcaster (I think he is currently a top official of a government media outlet); Fides Palicte, who would later become GMA 7 reporter and official of dyKC; Mercedes “Verse” Logarta, sister of local media’s Viking Logarta (now an environmentalist); Quennie Catingub, who later worked in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR); and Alfredo Sipalay, who would later become a lawyer.
I remember us attending lectures by veteran media personalities like Jess Vestil, Al Buenaventura, Meonik Mendoza, even Ernesto Herrera, who would later become senator (I won’t forget that lecture because Herrera, a polio victim, was being lifted when brought inside the session hall). Among those who handled the workshops were Ginnie Vamenta and Alan Jaime Rabaya, who I found out was strict in mentoring our group.
I got to reminisce that time when I heard that Fides, whom we fondly called “Fyds” had succumbed to cancer. Fides was the only one in that BPTC batch that I would meet again from time to time when I finally worked full-time in the media after years of spending years in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship. She wasn’t hard to like because she was friendly to everybody, although she was often reticent. I didn’t know the Big C had gotten to her.
The last time I saw her in a media activity, I noticed that she had slowed down. I would have wanted to ask her why she stuck with dyKC, which has gotten into bad times for years now but eventually decided not to. As media workers, we make our decisions based on our personal circumstances. Sometimes luck follows those decisions, sometimes it doesn’t. Considering the shaky nature of Cebu’s media industry, I say not everybody ends up lucky in this profession.
I remember how the first job I had as a full-time media practitioner didn’t pay me well. To get some savings, I had to suppress the urge to buy soft drinks during meals. I did a good dose of walking so that one late evening I was almost mugged by two drunks. Then we had a conflict with the manager, a rift that eventually pushed me to quit and shift from broadcast to print. It was then that luck began smiling on me.
When I think of Fides, I also remember the circuitous path I took in this profession. Hers was just straighter. May she rest in eternal peace.