A good word for dropouts

We would like to be among the first to congratulate Dr. Adrian E. Cristóbal, former publisher of The Manila Times, for the honorary doctorate in the humanities he received Wednesday from the University of the East.

Cristóbal spent three semesters at the university 50 years ago before calling it quits. He never looked back as he struggled to become a writer and journalist, using his inborn intelligence. He succeeded, of course, for which reason UE invited him to become the first dropout to address a graduating class.

His achievement recalls an earlier scene when, in 1979, Blas F. Ople, then secretary of labor, addressed a major commencement at the University of the Philippines. Ople, who had studied and dropped out of the UP, had an erratic education, but this did not stop him from becoming an accomplished journalist, labor secretary, senator and, before his death, secretary of foreign affairs.

Cristóbal and Ople exemplify the rare breed of Filipinos who stopped their formal education at an early age for reasons of poverty or to support a new family. Stepping into the world without a college diploma did not stop them from achieving their dreams. In Cristóbal’s case, he became an eminent author and journalist, public lecturer and an intellectual. His public service includes becoming secretary of labor, presidential spokesman and speechwriter and director of a policy think tank.

Who are the eminent school-leavers? They include the National Artist Nick Joaquín, former senator Francisco Tatad, former ambassador J.V. Cruz, the journalist, artist and gourmet Emilio Aguilar Cruz. Abroad, the honor roll includes Bill Gates, Peter Jennings, Leon Uris, Herman Melville, John Major -- famous names in electronic technology, journalism, literature and politics.

They are largely self-taught, read voraciously, had a great sense of curiosity and a gift for expression, and kept learned men among their friends. We refer to them as the graduates of "the university of life" who search for enlightenment not in the fine universities but through "the interstices of making a living in the harsh world of the city."

Their life and work tell us that learning is a continuing process, that it pays to be literate, and that a lifelong engagement in reading beats a college degree. At a time when law graduates cannot express themselves, when English majors have difficulty with the language and, yes, even newspapermen habitually break the rules of grammar, a personal commitment to learning, self-development and growth can help rescue the multitudes who are doomed to lifelong ignorance by a poor educational system, money-mad schools and ill-equipped teachers.

… and for the hometown press

It is interesting that National Press Month celebrates community journalism. The conference that opens today at a well-known Manila hotel banners the quiet heroism of the hometown press.

The truth is that the brunt of heroism the media must suffer falls on the shoulder of regional newspapers. Occasionally, Metro Manila-based journalists get the ire of political and business warlords but, looking at the big picture, it is the hometown editor or reporter who principally falls victim to onion-skinned political or underworld lions.

The local press has grown from family business to modern operations. From weeklies, many provincial papers have graduated into dailies. While coverage used to focus on provincial and town news, today’s countryside papers report and comment on national and international events.

Leading the pack are the successful hometown papers in Cebu, Panay and Mindanao. Baguio City boasts a vigorous and lively press. Pangasinan pioneered in investigative reporting. The Bicol and Southern Tagalog press has contributed its share of victims to the national pantheon of media martyrs.

Muckraking and exposés are not the principal concerns of most homegrown papers. They contribute mainly to civic education, developing community pride and helping build democracy, a rare commodity in the cities lorded over by powerful politicians, businessmen and crime bosses. Reporting the news as clearly as possible and making sense of events is a daily task most editors and reporters are happy to carry out.

The Publishers’ Association of the Philippines Inc., which puts under one tent all or most of the hometown papers, has organized once more a national meeting for the regional dailies and weeklies. We are sure that the Association will be pleased to respond to President Arroyo’s call for a responsible and accountable press not during the three-day congress but in the day-to-day work of the hometown papers, the indispensable institutions that stand for freedom, courage and democracy in the backward hinterland.