It was big opportunity that I was able to work full time with Philippines Herald, a national newspaper based in Manila. That happened while I was studying at Lyceum of the Philippines, taking Political Science, planning to enter Law School the following year. It was nearly a year after I left CPU. Philippines Herald was a newspaper owned and published by Dr. Andres Soriano, Jr., one of the prominent businessmen in the country that time. The Heralds circulations reached all cities and major towns in the country.
Dr. Andres Soriano, Jr., was one the oligarchs and powerful business elites of the time. He controlled big business conglomerates, on the same lines as the Lopez family of Manila Chronicles, the Roces family of Manila Times, friends of Hanz Menzi, owners of Manila Daily Bulletin, the the owners of Philippine Evening News. These were the most powerful newspapers of the 60’s that own and control the big businesses in the country.
I would like to say, that in all the works I involved in, there were people, friends and near strangers who helped me. I realized, generally, people were helpful to ordinary young men and women striving to make life and society a bit better. I believe that God was helping and guiding me.
Even in 3rd & 4th year high school, I tried to read newspapers. It gave me ideas on what were happenings in the country daily. I like also to improve my English. Speaking English was a struggle in my college days. I want to participate in discussions in our class rooms. To help me improve myself, I need to have more ideas and information stored on my mind to be able to participate in class and other discusions.
Since, I have interest in Photography, I tried to get technics from photos in newspapers and magazines. There I read works of Ruther Batuigas. He was Chief Photographer of the Philippines Herald. He was also President of the Philippine Association of Photo Journalists Associations. Ruther Batuigas was well- known among newspaper readers in Metro -Manila. He was a brave, daring and enterprising Police Reporter and Photo Journalist.
Ruther Batuigas’s photos and stories showed and told hard and painful stories and realities of the poor’s deprived lives in Intramuros, Tondo and other slums of Metro Manila. Yet. the Philippine Heralds Society pages, carried also his pictures, showing high livings of the richest, influential and powerful people of Metro Manila.
Ruther Batuigas has won an International Photo Journalist’s Award in the 60’s. His award winning photograph, was a shot at very close ranged of two men fighting in the slums of Intramuros.
The pictures, showed a man with a bow and an arrow on his sling shot. Ruther captured the deadly fight and encounter on the streets effectively. The first shot on his photo showed when an arrow was about to be released from the sling. The second shot showed when the arrow hit the forehead of the man. The third shot show the victim writhing in pain, with the arrow embedded deep on his forehead.
The fourth photo shot, showed the victim on the lap of a woman, her mother. She was weeping with one hand stretched out above, almost praying to heaven. Ruther’s caption of the Award Winning Picture says "Dear God, Please Save Him". It was a beautiful caption. I was beautiful, It moves hearts. It touched souls. . “Dear God, Please Save Him.”
I tried to meet Ruther several times. But he was always busy. I learned, he was from Capiz. Bit one day, I saw him at the Herald’s Canteen. There were numbers of customers. I went direct to Rither and introduced myself. I told him: “ Sir, I am Rudy Bernal from Iloilo. I am studying here at Lyceum. Am Third Year college. I worked as a an Itenerant Photographer. Please help me to learn news papering. I would like to work in the newspaper.” Ruther listened to me. Then he asked some questions. I gave him some answers.
Ruther went to a man seating on another table. He talked to him. Then he called me. He introduced me to Joe Carreon, the Herald Police Reporter who covered the night shift of police beat. Ruther requested Joe Carreon to help me learn news papering works.
Joe Carreon, was a UP graduate. We were of the same age. Joe told me to join him in the Police Beat that evening. We will be working from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM. That was the start. For 3 months, I was with Joe Carreon, his Cub, learning the arts and trade of police and crimes reporting in Metro Manila.
I thanked Joe Carreon and Ruther for their help. I went back to my table and finished my lunch. A few minutes later, Ruther came back. He has a stab of Herald canteen meal tickets. Ruther gave me 30 stabs of meal tickets. It has 90 meal tickets good for a month's meals. Ruther made sure, I have food in one month, free breakfast, lunch and supper, while being a Cub Reporter of the Philippines Herald under Joe Carreion..
Every night, at 6:00 P.M. I joined Joe Carreon in the police bit. We rode the Herald Police car with his driver, Joe Mendoza. The jeep had a radio, a walkie-talkie that enabled us to call the Herald office and DYHP Radio station. Our base for police coverage was the National Police Headquarters at United Nations Avenue. During that that time, it was headed by General Manuel Yan, Manila Police Chief.
Ruther gave me an Application Form. I signed it. He shot my 2 x 2 pix with his camera. A week later, he came and gave me a Press Card - of the The Philippines Photo Journalists Association, Inc. It was signed by my new friend, Ruther Batuigas. I am now a new member of the Philippines Photo Journalists Association, Inc.
Joe Carreon introduced me to other police reporters. They were very helpful. They tried ways to help me learn the arts and technics of covering crimes and writing crime stories. The police reporters of Manila Times, Manila Chronicles, Manila Daily Bulletin, Philippine Evening News were all friendly and tough police reporters. One of them was Jose Burgos, a crusading journalist.
He later organized Malaya newspaper with his friends. Malaya stood strongly fighting President Marcos during martial law. He served as publisher. Later, he gave up his newspaper work, sold his interest in Malaya and started his experiments and study on natural and organic farming in an outskirts of Manila.
While training as Cub Reporter, often at 9:00 PM we visited the 4 police district stations in Manila. About 2:00 AM we visited police stations in Quezon City, Caloocan City, Malabon, Navotas and Pasay City. I saw the night lifes of Metro Manila. Police reporters often stayed and passed the time on Night Clubs in Malate with a few bottles of bear. Club managers were friends of Joe Carreon and other Police Reporters.
One time Joe Carreon asked me to join him at Bayview Club, one of the top night clubs along Roxas Boulevard. We went to a round table with 5 people – two young men and 2 women and a child.
Joe Carreon introduced me to the beautiful woman and the other guests. He also offered me a bottle of bear. I drink only a bottle or two o bear. Never more. The woman was tall and slender. She talked in Spanish to the child near her. She talked to me in English. We have some short conversation. But I did not know her name. It was not clearly said.
Then, she was called on the microphone. She was escorted to the stage. Only then, I learned she was a singer. She sang a song in English. Then, she followed it with a Spanish song. Very beautiful renditions of an English and Spanish songs.
The audience stood almost together as she vowed her head and returned to our table. She's Pelita Corales, one of the well-known singers of the time. And she was wth us. It was the first time, I listened in person to Pelita Corales, whose songs were often played in dances by most young people in Iloilo during our younger days.
Doing reportorial jobs in Manila was hard work. I saw the crimes reported by the police. I heard many crimes that were not reported. I saw many people killed by gunshots. More people were stabbed and killed. Hard crimes continue to flourish. . I often saw young girls going to Police General Headquarters at United Nations Avenue, going to station after having been raped. It was an ordeal for women and their families. Being raped and getting justice was always hard.
I saw some of the girls, still with bloods on their legs, limping to the Police Station. And more and more harder for victims to fight for justice. Many crimes --petty crimes, big crimes and celebrity crimes-- happened always in Metro Manila and remained unsolved.
One celebrity crimes was the murder of the estranged wife of Banjo Laurel, son of Congressman and Speaker of the House Jose Laurel, Jr. We visited the crime scenes. Banjo Laurel was studying at Lyceum when his wife was killed in their home. But the victim’s family has kept silent. It was hard, very hard for the victim’s family to speak. The Laurels, Congressman Laurel and Banjo Laurel were very, very powerful people in Manila, that can never be touched by the justice system in our country.
Stories of the crime were written. But the perpetrators were unknown. And the search for justice was hard, long and lonely for the victim and their family. Here was shown one disparity on people’s lives. I saw the different kind of justice system working. The justice for the rich and powerful. And the justice for those who were ordinary, the weak and poor. And for many ordinary, weak and poor people, justice was always unreachable.
In the political scene, these were trying times. The student's unrest was going strong. The students in Metro Manila saw the deep poverty that buried the poor in sufferings and injustice. They also saw the affluence of the rich and powerful living luxury lives in their palatial homes.
The students specially members of Kabataang Makabayan (KM), saw the situations after they have submerged and integrated with residence of slums. They learned the evils of society under the control of the elites and oligarchs. The students started to think. They truth and social and political realities. . They began to condemn the atrocities and abuses of the rich and powerful.
With Kabataang Makabayan (KM) as the core, they organized and mobilized themselves and begun to expose and condemned the evil of US imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism as they begun they work for change.
Three months after I started as Cub reporter with the Philippines Herald, Ruther Batuigas came He told me my application to work with Philippines Herald was accepted. I will work first as Proof Reader. Then, slowly, as I learn the trade of newspapering, he will help me become also as a Reporter. He said: “ Rudy, you have learned skills on crime and news gathering. You need to learn more. The possibilities are always open"
Now, by reading news reports daily from Police, Congress, the Senate, Malacanan, Labor, Health, Army, Navy, Constabulary, Air Force and events happening around – just reading news reports on galleys, 8 hours a day, helped hone and sharpen your skills on news writing.” Then, Ruther, introduced me to Bote Bautista, a Pampangeno and chief of the Proof Reading office.
I started working at the Proofreading disk of Philippines Herald. We were seven Proof readers daily. We worked 8 hours a day. Four of us starts working 1:00 P.M. until we closed the Provincial News Edition. Three of us start works at 3:00 - PM until we start printing the City Edition. It was great working, just reading, reading and reading galley proofs, 8 hours a day. Then, read the newspapers as it comes out at 2:00 PM for the provincial editions.
During this time and the next 3 years, I saw in Manila the start and growth of the students movements, student demonstrations and people’s rallies. I have seen the steady growth of the students unrest. How it started at Lyceum, the University of the Philippines and moved fast in different directions of the University belt..
It’s expansions to different colleges and universities in Metro Manila. The strength and forces of students movements now gathering force and galvanized for change and social transformation. This movement was starting to be called the First Quarter Storms of the Philippine Revolution (FQS).
One afternoon, there was a student rally at the Lyceum. The speakers were mostly from Lyceum. The heat of the atmosphere could be felt as speakers after speaker hit the social and economic and political evils in Philippines society. The anger of the students were seen on their faces. .
That afternoon, there moves came fast and sudden. I saw a student getting a rock and hurled it at the glass windows of the Lyceum of the Philippines. Then another student followed. And more students hurled stones and rocks in the glass windows of the college. In less than an hour, the glass windows of Lyceum were mostly shattered, broken and ruined.
The following day, the student demonstrations followed at nearby Feati University. Then it moved on fast and strong to most colleges and universities in Manila. In those days, most glass windows of colleges and universities in the university belt and stores along the roads were broken.
A day after, the once beautiful glass windows of colleges and universities were covered with plywood. The anger of the students were shown that day and the following days. It was the students anger and strength revealed for the first time in Metro Manila.
But, I think San Juan de Letran, Ateneo de Manila and San Bida College were not touched by students upheaval. Neither can I remember St. Paul’s College, Sta. Scholastica and Assumption College and other exclusive colleges for girls and boys. They were not hit by student's rallies. These exclusive schools for the rich, powerful and influential, were not touched by the need for change during that time.
Students of exclusive schools have not seen and were not touched by realities of grave poverty in the country. They enjoyed privilege and security. Then the First Vatican Council meeting came in Rome. Little change came at the exclusive schools. It started with some movements in the Catholic church. Some students of exclusive schools, were sent for an hour of visits slums in Manila. For the first time, the students of exclusive schools saw the extreme poverty of the poor and the deprived lives of millions in Manila.
They also learned from the lectures of some Priests, that only 4 per cent of the population, owns and control the the lands and other vast resources of the country. That’s the reason for the grave poverty of majority Filipinos.
On 2nd quarter of 1965, I joined the students rally in Malacanan. The Vietnam-US war that started in 1961 has greatly intensified. Vietcong forces had attacked South Vietnamese and American forces in several places. The United States was asking countries in Southeast Asia for volunteers and help fight the communists who were fighting in South Vietnam.
A few thousands students joined the rally. months before the 1965 November elections. It was a peaceful rally held at Malacanan but it has a strong demand. President Diosdado Macapagal asked the student leaders to go up to the Palace for a dialogue. There the student leaders asked President Macapagal not to send Filipino troops to South Vietnam. The students do not see the wisdom of US war involvement in Vietnam. They foresaw millions of Vietnamese and a thousand American and its allies dying in the Vietnam War.
Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, who was running for President, in a statement the following day, said if elected president, he will not send Filipino forces to South Vietnam. Some students believed him. But after he was elected President in November 9, 1965, Marcos forgot his campaign promise. One of his first actions was to send Filipino soldiers, the PHILCAG (Philippine Civic Action Group) to South Vietnam under the command of Colonel Fidel Ramos.
President Marcos first year in Malacanang showed the growing strength of the students, workers and peasants’ movement that continued exposing the evils of US imperialism, the atrocities of feudalism and the greed of bureaucratic capitalism . These three evils were the major causes of poverty and deprived lives of Filipinos.
During this years, Ruther Batuigas continued to serve the people with his pictures and newspaper reports. He touched some powerful leaders in Manila, some got angry with him. Some advised him to go slow. But he continued in his work, exposing evils in the bureaucracy and even among his peers in the news and information business.
One day, I was shocked. Ruther Batuigas was ambushed in Malate, Manila. He was brought to the hospital between life and death. I learned he got some 30 bullets passing through his body. When I visited him, he was still unconscious. A lady relative was watching him in the hospital. I prayed for Ruther. I also left some amount for medicine. Many, I know prayed for Ruther. Later, his body stabilized. Little by little he gained strength and recovered. He went back to work as a journalists. He continued serving the people by exposing anomalies in government as a newspaperman, news photographer.
He continued his journey of service through his camera, pictures and the written words. He became a newspaper columnist. He continued for years in the calling. Then he became a publisher of the newspaper he organized with his friends and partners. It was a beautiful journey for my friend, Ruther Batuigas, who ventured to Manila from Mambusao, Capiz, years ago, with his camera.
And with creativeness, enterprise, courage, dedication and faith reached far and touched people’s lives with his camera and his pen. He shared his stories and pictures. He helped brought change in people’s minds, lives and communities
Dr. Andres Soriano, Jr., was one the oligarchs and powerful business elites of the time. He controlled big business conglomerates, on the same lines as the Lopez family of Manila Chronicles, the Roces family of Manila Times, friends of Hanz Menzi, owners of Manila Daily Bulletin, the the owners of Philippine Evening News. These were the most powerful newspapers of the 60’s that own and control the big businesses in the country.
I would like to say, that in all the works I involved in, there were people, friends and near strangers who helped me. I realized, generally, people were helpful to ordinary young men and women striving to make life and society a bit better. I believe that God was helping and guiding me.
Even in 3rd & 4th year high school, I tried to read newspapers. It gave me ideas on what were happenings in the country daily. I like also to improve my English. Speaking English was a struggle in my college days. I want to participate in discussions in our class rooms. To help me improve myself, I need to have more ideas and information stored on my mind to be able to participate in class and other discusions.
Since, I have interest in Photography, I tried to get technics from photos in newspapers and magazines. There I read works of Ruther Batuigas. He was Chief Photographer of the Philippines Herald. He was also President of the Philippine Association of Photo Journalists Associations. Ruther Batuigas was well- known among newspaper readers in Metro -Manila. He was a brave, daring and enterprising Police Reporter and Photo Journalist.
Ruther Batuigas’s photos and stories showed and told hard and painful stories and realities of the poor’s deprived lives in Intramuros, Tondo and other slums of Metro Manila. Yet. the Philippine Heralds Society pages, carried also his pictures, showing high livings of the richest, influential and powerful people of Metro Manila.
Ruther Batuigas has won an International Photo Journalist’s Award in the 60’s. His award winning photograph, was a shot at very close ranged of two men fighting in the slums of Intramuros.
The pictures, showed a man with a bow and an arrow on his sling shot. Ruther captured the deadly fight and encounter on the streets effectively. The first shot on his photo showed when an arrow was about to be released from the sling. The second shot showed when the arrow hit the forehead of the man. The third shot show the victim writhing in pain, with the arrow embedded deep on his forehead.
The fourth photo shot, showed the victim on the lap of a woman, her mother. She was weeping with one hand stretched out above, almost praying to heaven. Ruther’s caption of the Award Winning Picture says "Dear God, Please Save Him". It was a beautiful caption. I was beautiful, It moves hearts. It touched souls. . “Dear God, Please Save Him.”
I tried to meet Ruther several times. But he was always busy. I learned, he was from Capiz. Bit one day, I saw him at the Herald’s Canteen. There were numbers of customers. I went direct to Rither and introduced myself. I told him: “ Sir, I am Rudy Bernal from Iloilo. I am studying here at Lyceum. Am Third Year college. I worked as a an Itenerant Photographer. Please help me to learn news papering. I would like to work in the newspaper.” Ruther listened to me. Then he asked some questions. I gave him some answers.
Ruther went to a man seating on another table. He talked to him. Then he called me. He introduced me to Joe Carreon, the Herald Police Reporter who covered the night shift of police beat. Ruther requested Joe Carreon to help me learn news papering works.
Joe Carreon, was a UP graduate. We were of the same age. Joe told me to join him in the Police Beat that evening. We will be working from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM. That was the start. For 3 months, I was with Joe Carreon, his Cub, learning the arts and trade of police and crimes reporting in Metro Manila.
I thanked Joe Carreon and Ruther for their help. I went back to my table and finished my lunch. A few minutes later, Ruther came back. He has a stab of Herald canteen meal tickets. Ruther gave me 30 stabs of meal tickets. It has 90 meal tickets good for a month's meals. Ruther made sure, I have food in one month, free breakfast, lunch and supper, while being a Cub Reporter of the Philippines Herald under Joe Carreion..
Every night, at 6:00 P.M. I joined Joe Carreon in the police bit. We rode the Herald Police car with his driver, Joe Mendoza. The jeep had a radio, a walkie-talkie that enabled us to call the Herald office and DYHP Radio station. Our base for police coverage was the National Police Headquarters at United Nations Avenue. During that that time, it was headed by General Manuel Yan, Manila Police Chief.
Ruther gave me an Application Form. I signed it. He shot my 2 x 2 pix with his camera. A week later, he came and gave me a Press Card - of the The Philippines Photo Journalists Association, Inc. It was signed by my new friend, Ruther Batuigas. I am now a new member of the Philippines Photo Journalists Association, Inc.
Joe Carreon introduced me to other police reporters. They were very helpful. They tried ways to help me learn the arts and technics of covering crimes and writing crime stories. The police reporters of Manila Times, Manila Chronicles, Manila Daily Bulletin, Philippine Evening News were all friendly and tough police reporters. One of them was Jose Burgos, a crusading journalist.
He later organized Malaya newspaper with his friends. Malaya stood strongly fighting President Marcos during martial law. He served as publisher. Later, he gave up his newspaper work, sold his interest in Malaya and started his experiments and study on natural and organic farming in an outskirts of Manila.
While training as Cub Reporter, often at 9:00 PM we visited the 4 police district stations in Manila. About 2:00 AM we visited police stations in Quezon City, Caloocan City, Malabon, Navotas and Pasay City. I saw the night lifes of Metro Manila. Police reporters often stayed and passed the time on Night Clubs in Malate with a few bottles of bear. Club managers were friends of Joe Carreon and other Police Reporters.
One time Joe Carreon asked me to join him at Bayview Club, one of the top night clubs along Roxas Boulevard. We went to a round table with 5 people – two young men and 2 women and a child.
Joe Carreon introduced me to the beautiful woman and the other guests. He also offered me a bottle of bear. I drink only a bottle or two o bear. Never more. The woman was tall and slender. She talked in Spanish to the child near her. She talked to me in English. We have some short conversation. But I did not know her name. It was not clearly said.
Then, she was called on the microphone. She was escorted to the stage. Only then, I learned she was a singer. She sang a song in English. Then, she followed it with a Spanish song. Very beautiful renditions of an English and Spanish songs.
The audience stood almost together as she vowed her head and returned to our table. She's Pelita Corales, one of the well-known singers of the time. And she was wth us. It was the first time, I listened in person to Pelita Corales, whose songs were often played in dances by most young people in Iloilo during our younger days.
Doing reportorial jobs in Manila was hard work. I saw the crimes reported by the police. I heard many crimes that were not reported. I saw many people killed by gunshots. More people were stabbed and killed. Hard crimes continue to flourish. . I often saw young girls going to Police General Headquarters at United Nations Avenue, going to station after having been raped. It was an ordeal for women and their families. Being raped and getting justice was always hard.
I saw some of the girls, still with bloods on their legs, limping to the Police Station. And more and more harder for victims to fight for justice. Many crimes --petty crimes, big crimes and celebrity crimes-- happened always in Metro Manila and remained unsolved.
One celebrity crimes was the murder of the estranged wife of Banjo Laurel, son of Congressman and Speaker of the House Jose Laurel, Jr. We visited the crime scenes. Banjo Laurel was studying at Lyceum when his wife was killed in their home. But the victim’s family has kept silent. It was hard, very hard for the victim’s family to speak. The Laurels, Congressman Laurel and Banjo Laurel were very, very powerful people in Manila, that can never be touched by the justice system in our country.
Stories of the crime were written. But the perpetrators were unknown. And the search for justice was hard, long and lonely for the victim and their family. Here was shown one disparity on people’s lives. I saw the different kind of justice system working. The justice for the rich and powerful. And the justice for those who were ordinary, the weak and poor. And for many ordinary, weak and poor people, justice was always unreachable.
In the political scene, these were trying times. The student's unrest was going strong. The students in Metro Manila saw the deep poverty that buried the poor in sufferings and injustice. They also saw the affluence of the rich and powerful living luxury lives in their palatial homes.
The students specially members of Kabataang Makabayan (KM), saw the situations after they have submerged and integrated with residence of slums. They learned the evils of society under the control of the elites and oligarchs. The students started to think. They truth and social and political realities. . They began to condemn the atrocities and abuses of the rich and powerful.
With Kabataang Makabayan (KM) as the core, they organized and mobilized themselves and begun to expose and condemned the evil of US imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism as they begun they work for change.
Three months after I started as Cub reporter with the Philippines Herald, Ruther Batuigas came He told me my application to work with Philippines Herald was accepted. I will work first as Proof Reader. Then, slowly, as I learn the trade of newspapering, he will help me become also as a Reporter. He said: “ Rudy, you have learned skills on crime and news gathering. You need to learn more. The possibilities are always open"
Now, by reading news reports daily from Police, Congress, the Senate, Malacanan, Labor, Health, Army, Navy, Constabulary, Air Force and events happening around – just reading news reports on galleys, 8 hours a day, helped hone and sharpen your skills on news writing.” Then, Ruther, introduced me to Bote Bautista, a Pampangeno and chief of the Proof Reading office.
I started working at the Proofreading disk of Philippines Herald. We were seven Proof readers daily. We worked 8 hours a day. Four of us starts working 1:00 P.M. until we closed the Provincial News Edition. Three of us start works at 3:00 - PM until we start printing the City Edition. It was great working, just reading, reading and reading galley proofs, 8 hours a day. Then, read the newspapers as it comes out at 2:00 PM for the provincial editions.
During this time and the next 3 years, I saw in Manila the start and growth of the students movements, student demonstrations and people’s rallies. I have seen the steady growth of the students unrest. How it started at Lyceum, the University of the Philippines and moved fast in different directions of the University belt..
It’s expansions to different colleges and universities in Metro Manila. The strength and forces of students movements now gathering force and galvanized for change and social transformation. This movement was starting to be called the First Quarter Storms of the Philippine Revolution (FQS).
One afternoon, there was a student rally at the Lyceum. The speakers were mostly from Lyceum. The heat of the atmosphere could be felt as speakers after speaker hit the social and economic and political evils in Philippines society. The anger of the students were seen on their faces. .
That afternoon, there moves came fast and sudden. I saw a student getting a rock and hurled it at the glass windows of the Lyceum of the Philippines. Then another student followed. And more students hurled stones and rocks in the glass windows of the college. In less than an hour, the glass windows of Lyceum were mostly shattered, broken and ruined.
The following day, the student demonstrations followed at nearby Feati University. Then it moved on fast and strong to most colleges and universities in Manila. In those days, most glass windows of colleges and universities in the university belt and stores along the roads were broken.
A day after, the once beautiful glass windows of colleges and universities were covered with plywood. The anger of the students were shown that day and the following days. It was the students anger and strength revealed for the first time in Metro Manila.
But, I think San Juan de Letran, Ateneo de Manila and San Bida College were not touched by students upheaval. Neither can I remember St. Paul’s College, Sta. Scholastica and Assumption College and other exclusive colleges for girls and boys. They were not hit by student's rallies. These exclusive schools for the rich, powerful and influential, were not touched by the need for change during that time.
Students of exclusive schools have not seen and were not touched by realities of grave poverty in the country. They enjoyed privilege and security. Then the First Vatican Council meeting came in Rome. Little change came at the exclusive schools. It started with some movements in the Catholic church. Some students of exclusive schools, were sent for an hour of visits slums in Manila. For the first time, the students of exclusive schools saw the extreme poverty of the poor and the deprived lives of millions in Manila.
They also learned from the lectures of some Priests, that only 4 per cent of the population, owns and control the the lands and other vast resources of the country. That’s the reason for the grave poverty of majority Filipinos.
On 2nd quarter of 1965, I joined the students rally in Malacanan. The Vietnam-US war that started in 1961 has greatly intensified. Vietcong forces had attacked South Vietnamese and American forces in several places. The United States was asking countries in Southeast Asia for volunteers and help fight the communists who were fighting in South Vietnam.
A few thousands students joined the rally. months before the 1965 November elections. It was a peaceful rally held at Malacanan but it has a strong demand. President Diosdado Macapagal asked the student leaders to go up to the Palace for a dialogue. There the student leaders asked President Macapagal not to send Filipino troops to South Vietnam. The students do not see the wisdom of US war involvement in Vietnam. They foresaw millions of Vietnamese and a thousand American and its allies dying in the Vietnam War.
Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, who was running for President, in a statement the following day, said if elected president, he will not send Filipino forces to South Vietnam. Some students believed him. But after he was elected President in November 9, 1965, Marcos forgot his campaign promise. One of his first actions was to send Filipino soldiers, the PHILCAG (Philippine Civic Action Group) to South Vietnam under the command of Colonel Fidel Ramos.
President Marcos first year in Malacanang showed the growing strength of the students, workers and peasants’ movement that continued exposing the evils of US imperialism, the atrocities of feudalism and the greed of bureaucratic capitalism . These three evils were the major causes of poverty and deprived lives of Filipinos.
During this years, Ruther Batuigas continued to serve the people with his pictures and newspaper reports. He touched some powerful leaders in Manila, some got angry with him. Some advised him to go slow. But he continued in his work, exposing evils in the bureaucracy and even among his peers in the news and information business.
One day, I was shocked. Ruther Batuigas was ambushed in Malate, Manila. He was brought to the hospital between life and death. I learned he got some 30 bullets passing through his body. When I visited him, he was still unconscious. A lady relative was watching him in the hospital. I prayed for Ruther. I also left some amount for medicine. Many, I know prayed for Ruther. Later, his body stabilized. Little by little he gained strength and recovered. He went back to work as a journalists. He continued serving the people by exposing anomalies in government as a newspaperman, news photographer.
He continued his journey of service through his camera, pictures and the written words. He became a newspaper columnist. He continued for years in the calling. Then he became a publisher of the newspaper he organized with his friends and partners. It was a beautiful journey for my friend, Ruther Batuigas, who ventured to Manila from Mambusao, Capiz, years ago, with his camera.
And with creativeness, enterprise, courage, dedication and faith reached far and touched people’s lives with his camera and his pen. He shared his stories and pictures. He helped brought change in people’s minds, lives and communities
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