The day’s news was Imelda Marcos

By Herbert Vego

“ANO ang balita?”

LIKE me, you have been asked this instinctive question on meeting a friend by chance. We take this to mean that we are all interested in, to quote Mr. Webster, “any information about a recent event in a particular area” – which is what the word “news” means.

I remember the late Angel Anden, who introduced news writing to us Journalism students at Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU) in Manila on July 3, 1967. Our professor had been editor of the defunct This Week magazine.

First, Anden lectured us on the “inverted pyramid” form as the traditional news structure which begins with the most important details and ending with the least important, “so that whenever space is not enough. This format allows the editor to cut the story due to space limitation; or the reader to quit reading without losing the vital details.

The lead – referring to the first paragraph or two – summarizes the whole story in as few words as possible. The conventional or orthodox lead consists of all or most of the five Ws and one H. The Ws answer the questions who, what, when, where and why. The H is for how.

“If you intend to be a news reporter,” he encouraged us, “you will never run out of materials. Whenever or anywhere you go – north, east, west or south – there’s an unfolding event worth writing about.”

There was stress in the way he enumerated the four points of the compass — North, East, West or South – obviously because their first letters, whether intentionally or coincidentally, spell “news.”

The date of Anden’s lecture coincided with what was then a pompously celebrated occasion.  And so he asked, “What’s the news today?”

We chorused, “Today’s news is the First Lady’s birthday celebration yesterday.”

“Yesterday” in 1967 was a Sunday, July 2, and Imelda Romualdez Marcos had just celebrated her 38^th birthday.  Therefore, the front-pages of the newspapers on July 3, 1967 focused on the gathering of the rich and famous, scrambling to be photo-shot with her in Malacañang Palace.

To continue, Prof. Anden made use of the day’s news to brag a little, “I discovered Imelda.”

He was talking about what had transpired in the early 1950s, but we “oohed” and “aahed” because it was news to us college students in 1967.

“I was walking on Aduana St.,” the prof revealed, “when I first met this attractive young lady.  After introducing myself as a magazine editor looking for a cover girl, she agreed to be interviewed and photographed.”

The beautiful face on This Week magazine with an accompanying story by Angel C. Anden brought Imelda Romualdez to public attention. She had been crowned “Miss Leyte” at the age of 18.

The publicity attracted the then Mayor Arsenio Lacson of Msnila. She asked her to vie for “Miss Manila ” and later for “Miss Philippines” but lost both attempts.

However, she won the heart of Ferdinand Marcos, who was then congressman of the 2^nd District of Ilocos Norte.  He married her in 1954.

As fate would have it,  Marcos eventually became President of the Philippines.

In a way, therefore, our professor was insinuating that he had played a pivotal role in the rise of Imelda from a nobody to First Lady.

I remembered the Anden story yesterday because the former First Lady was celebrating her  94^th birthday. The occasion was hardly a celebration, however. No longer a celebrity, she was reported to be recuperating from angioplasty, a surgical procedure that opened a blocked blood vessel to her heart.

Still, she remains a part of history today, whether good or bad, for being the mother of the present President, Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., who has just ended his first year in office with none of his promises fulfilled.

Where’s the 20-peso-per-kilo rice? But that’s another story.

-oOo-

OBJECTION TO CENECO-PRIMELECTRIC JVA GROUNDLESS

THE Negrenses are happy over the decision of Maria Lina P. Gonzaga (Regional Trial Court Branch 42) lifting the temporary restraining order (TRO) which she had imposed on the ongoing plebiscite on the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) and Primelectric.

There was fake news on the ground cited by the TRO petitioners, who had cited was lack of massive information, education, and communication (IEC) campaigns on the joint venture. In fact, all the broadcast, print and social media had been exposing heavy losses of the cooperative – as much as P40 million a month – which could render it bankrupt before its franchise ends in 2030.

So far, voting turnout in the first two days of the plebiscite committee turned out favorably with 21,674 voting yes to the JVA, and only 6,067, no. Ceneco has 192,188 member-consumers considered as eligible voters.

Therefore, the key to its survival rests on the helping of Primelectric, which is owned by the second richest Filipino, Enrique Razon. The joint venture would lead to the creation of Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC).