“Journalism is a Promethean endeavor.”
Thus imparted Prof. Lourdes “Chit” Estella-Simbulan to her students in the University of the Philippines, College of Mass Communication.
Prometheus is a mythical character, a Greek titan punished by the gods for giving fire to mankind. He was bound to a rock, with his liver eaten by an eagle everyday.
Even if it meant going against the “gods” of the present time, Simbulan actually lived up with this principle.
She became an activist and a writer for the Philippine Collegian during the Martial Law years, a trying period especially for journalists who criticized and opposed the Marcos regime.
During her stint as the managing editor of The Manila Times, she was able to publish a report, calling former President Joseph Estrada an “unwitting godfather” to a supposed fraudulent deal. It was about the revisions made to a government contract that favored the Argentinian power firm IMPSA.
Estrada then sued the newspaper, and Robina Gokongwei, the president then of Times, yielded to the pressure.
But the P101 million libel suit did not scare Simbulan. Instead, the brave journalist resigned along with some of the other editors, when the publisher apologized to the former president.
She resigned only to gather more strength in telling the truth. She continued to publish exposés on the Estrada administration when she became the editor-in-chief of the Filipino political tabloid, Pinoy Times.
When the newspaper closed after Estrada was ousted into power, Simbulan focused on her teaching profession and living a simpler life.
But that was not the end.
“I remember a publisher who once heard his reporters griping about the slant of his newspaper,” said Simbulan in a 2009 Inquirer article by Benjamin Pimentel. “His answer to them: ‘If you don’t like the way I run this paper, put up your own! Magtayo kayo ng sarili n’yong diyaryo.”
“So we did—many years later. Not a bad advice,” she added.
In 2008, along with other veteran journalists Yvonne Chua, Luz Rimban, Ellen Tordecillas, Booma Cruz, and Jennifer Santiago, they founded Vera Files, an independent, non-profit news agency online.
Vera Files is known for investigative reports including Rep. Mikey Arroyo’s controversial house in California, the fertilizer scam, and the NBN-ZTE deal.
Simbulan was able to come up with reports such as the Diwalwal projects, the Olalias, and “The Cory Years”.
“Magaling na writer si Chit. Ma-prinsipyo siya. Hindi siya katulad ng ibang journalist na mahilig mag lecture tungkol sa ethics pero ang ginagawa naman ay labag sa kanilang sinasabi,” Tordecillas said on her website.
“Para kay Chit, dapat ang isang reporter ay ma-insulto kapag ina-alok ng bribe. Hindi ‘yan dapat pinagyayabang.”
Advertising legend William Bernbarch once said, “All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.”
And Simbulan definitely did the latter, becoming the Promethean journalist.
The contents of this post were retrieved from a Wayback Machine snapshot of UPJC’s old website dated Aug. 27, 2011, 06:43:40 GMT.
