MB: Home of Notable Public Servants and Advocates

Bulletin as columnist in 2017. President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him last year as a special envoy for inter-cultural dialogue.

Other MB columnists, current and past, include other incumbent and previous senators such as Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Loren Legarda, Rene Espina and Joey Lina who was also elected Laguna Governor and who served, too, as Interior and Local Governments Secretary and Metro Manila Governor during the Corazon Aquijo administration.

Currently serving in the MB Board are former Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr. and former Senator and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, vice chairmen of the Board; and former Pangasinan Rep. Maria Georgina Perez-de Venecia, independent director. Erstwhile Professional Regulatory Commission Chairman Hermogenes Pobre is MB President and Publisher.

In a recent reunion among Malacañang Press Secretaries, many of them good-naturedly exchanged banter upon realizing that they had one thing in common: Having served, at one time or another, with the Manila Bulletin.

Francisco “Kit” Tatad was a 29-year -old Manila Bulletin reporter when he was tapped in 1969 by then President Ferdinand Marcos to become the youngest Press Secretary. He served in the Philippine Senate from 1992-2001, and was part of the impeachment court for then President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. He continues to be a policy advocate and newspaper columnist.

Hector Villanueva served in the second half of President Fidel Ramos’ administration from June 1995 to June 1998. He writes a weekly MB column, “Chaff from the Grain” where his signature last sentence is invariably a call to his readers: “You be the judge.”

Ignacio ‘Toting’ Bunye presently writes a weekly column for MB. He served as Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before serving as Monetary Board Member until 2014. He was among the first officers-in-charge to be appointed as mayors in the aftermath of the EDSA People Power Revolution and was later elected as Mayor where he presided over Muntinlupa City’s cityhood, before being elected as its Congressman in the House of Representatives.

In late 2016, after he strode into the MB newsroom to take the proverbial hot seat at a roundtable interview with editors and reporters, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza reminisced about his stint as a Davao City-based correspondent for the Bulletin. He yearned for those days when he pounded his assigned beat and submitted his stories in hard copy, using a manual typewriter, and getting paid “by the column inch” (or length of story as measured by a ruler).

Incumbent MB editor-in-chief Crispulo Icban Jr. served in transition, during the last five months of the Arroyo administration, following the demise of Cerge Remonde, who was also an MB columnist.

MB’s roster of notables also includes a good number of Cabinet secretaries and senior government officials.

Bro. Andrew Gonzalez served as MB President after his stint as president of De La Salle University and before he served as education secretary. Another former education secretary who is currently an MB columnist is Jaime Laya, who has also served as Central Bank Governor. He is presently president of Philtrust Bank. Edilberto de Jesus, also an education secretary during the Arroyo administration wrote a column, “Second Thoughts.” He is now Professor Emeritus at the Asian Institute of Management where he was also president.

A pillar of good corporate governance, former Education Secretary and NEDA Director General Jesus P. Estanislao’s MB column, “Swimming Against the Current” focuses on governance issues. He is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Institute for Solidarity in Asia and was tapped recently by the Securities and Exchanging Commission as chief adviser to a consultative group that drafted a five-year blueprint for corporate governance in the country.

Gemma Cruz Araneta’s “Landscape” column focuses on Filipino history, culture and heritage. She was tourism secretary in President Estrada’s government and was also the first Filipina to win the Miss International title. Honored by the Philippine Senate as “a prolific journalist, a political satirist, a historical writer and lecturer, a well-respected columnist, a brilliant fictionist and essayist, a creative playwright, a literary genius and a hardworking publisher,” Adrian Cristobal wrote an MB column, “Breakfast Table” and also served briefly as associate editor. He was a Social Security System commissioner and University of the Philippines regent during the Marcos era.

Former Senator and Health Secretary Juan Flavier, well-known for his sense of humor and folksy ways, wrote an MB column, “The Barrio Breeze” mostly on anecdotes similar to those found in his signature book, Doctor to the Barrios. His successor as health secretary, Jaime Galvez Tan, a leading natural medicine and healing advocate, also followed suit as an MB columnist.

Francis Tolentino, presently presidential adviser on political affairs, writes a column, “Poli-Views” for MB. He served as Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman and was a member of the Cabinet for the entire administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Melito Salazar Jr., formerly Monetary Board member and managing head of the Board of Investments at the Department of Trade and Industry writes columns in both the op-ed and business pages of MB.

Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc’s memorable stint at the Manila Bulletin was highlighted by her editorship of Panorama, the Bulletin’s Sunday magazine, from 1978 to 1981. In 1981, she was honored as one of The Outstanding Women in the New Society (TOWNS) awardees. She also wrote a column for the Manila Bulletin entitled “Not for People Only” after alternating with co-columnist Tony Nieva in writing about “The Passing Scene.” She is remembered for her staunch advocacy of press freedom, especially during the run-up to the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986.

For two decades – from 1987 to 2007 – Napoleon G. Rama was Publisher of the Manila Bulletin. He was vice president of the 1971 Constitutional Convention and floor leader of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution, also known as the Freedom Constitution as it heralded the restorationofPhilippine democracy.Hewasalso a well-known writer of the Philippines Free Press and served twice as president of the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC). He was among the first to be arrestedanddetainedin FortBonifacioalongwith then Senators Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino,Jr. and Jose W. Diokno at the inception of martial rule.

Antonio Zumel was a former news editor of the Manila Bulletin and twice president of the NationalPressClub.The Antonio Zumel Center for Press Freedom was established in his honor, an advocacy supported byamongothers,former Speaker of the House of Representatives Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte who recalls fondly their friendship as newspaper reporters.

Also adding luster to the glittering array of MB notables in the oped pages are recently retired Supreme Court Justice Arturo Brion, also a former labor secretary. Former Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Jesus Elbinias was also an MB columnist.