three reasons why i’m lucky today:
reason #1: got my first byline in the metro section today. pnp nabs 3 asg suspects in raid by christian esguerra and michael jobert navallo…so it read. wow, it felt great! i actually learned it from lawrence who texted me while my pi class was about to end. he said: congrats! may byline ka today, or something to that effect. can’t remember exactly what i replied but am sure it consisted only of one word. (choose: talaga? what? or what!). i only got to see it when i visited journ dep’t. right after. that’s when i got ecstatic and excited.
when i got to crame later on, christina mendez of the philippine star asked me if i had today’s paper. i said i didn’t. she said, wala kang dyaryo? byline ka pa naman. later, jericho, another reporter remarked: byline si michael jobert navallo o. hehe, that was really sweet.
reason #2: by some twist of fate or luck, the same story came out as part of sir christian’s page 1 story on the yellow-red overseas organization, so i also earned a tagline. another first! first tagline for a page 1 story. now i’m really inspired. what a way to end my supposedly last day in crame.
reason #3: earned my first scoop today, thanks mostly to my good trainor. he gave me quotes from his interview with the partlylist representative of the suara bangsamoro regarding one of the alleged abu sayyaf members caught yesterday and a dossier from the same party. while writing a profile on dawabi ben albi maulana, i decided to clarify some info and that’s when i was able to set an exclusive interview with his daughter.
even the timing was just right. while i was writing maulana’s profile, sir christian was covering the peace talks conference in new manila. later, news broke out in the press office about a presscon at the pnp’s civil security group regarding 6 arrested document fraud syndicate members. i texted sir christian and he said i could come. and so i went alone, asking around how to get there. my boss was already there but the presscon was just about to start.
just about the same time the presscon ended, maulana’s daughter texted me that they were already at his father’s detention cell. upon my trainor’s advice, i met her there and got to ask a few questions. i also saw firsthand how maulana was being escorted out of crame to the quezon city prosecutor’s office. boy, was the security lax! no handcuffs. i was even standing next to the old man presented as one of the suspects yesterday.
when i came back to the office, my boss was away, interviewing pnp spokesman goltiao regarding the voter turn-out of local absentee voters in the police and military. i wrote my two stories until a little before 6, in the process almost committing a major crime against a reporter. i was trying to turn a computer on when i switched off the avr, unknowingly turning off ms. mendez’s computer. i really thought she was gonna be sore (to think i’ve seen her furious yesterday). but she did manage to control her temper and i was relieved the document was rescued. buti na lang!
anyway, i hope both stories get published tomorrow. or maybe even just one. if not, i’ll be happy at the thought that i got the story for myself, no matter how small it was, and the other reporters didn’t. haha. (pagbigyan niyo na.)
what a day it was indeed, considering that it almost didn’t start well. i almost got bullied today by that manila times reporter (who by the way is the butt of all jokes in our group—uhm, i could see two factions in the press office and i somehow belong to the more noisy but good-natured ones who value their integrity). i don’t know what was with him. i was trying to borrow the journal from a reporter, speaking in the most polite way possible. sir, pahiram po ng journal after. and he butted in (i wasn’t even talking to him). he said: di ba trainee ka pa? maghintay ka matapos ang mga reporters (in a really mean way). so i was like, hindi ko naman po kukunin kaagad, hihiramin ko pagkatapos. and he blurted something but i didn’t care to listen to him na. i just smiled and almost chuckled. to my mind, is he really that insecure? that was the same thing sir christian told me later on when i informed him of what happened. insecure lang yan. magaling pa english mo dyan. (maniniwala ba ako?) later, froilan from today, who used to be sir christian’s trainee, said, sabihin mo lang kapag inaway ka nun ha. haha. turns out protektado pala ako sa crame.
oh well (here’s that phrase again), the day somehow ended well. was in high spirits even though this was gonna be my last day. sir benjie liwanag of dzbb asked when was my last day. i told him, ngayon. he said: babay. later, ms. mu uttered words like, last day mo na pala ngayon. i replied with all smiles (as if happy pa), oo nga e. but after that, nothing. we didn’t talk, we didn’t almost notice each other later in the day. well, i think it’s for the better. i don’t want to be crame-sick when i get to san juan.
but i did have a discovery of the day. sir benjie introduced me to a free service from globe where, instead of the ring ring ring, the caller gets to hear either a song or a recorded message. he told me to choose aubrey miles. they had a kick listening to what she had to say. it went something like: hi this is aubrey miles…honey, telephone, blah blah blah. the caller is supposed to think you’re really with her huh.
there are other variations. there are songs and funny punchlines, even an abu sayyaf message. really cool. if you want to try it, or to listen to aubrey, call me ok? now, i wonder what my mother would do when she gets to hear this…hmmm…
anyway, before i left crame for today, i had an early supper with tahong and rice. huh! sarap! haven’t tasted it for a while. what a way to end my crame internship.
on second thought, it wasn’t really the end. i can still go back after elections. and i just found out this evening that sir luige, my new trainor, won’t be able to go with me tomorrow to san juan and that i only need to get the basic info he asked from me. that means, if i finish early, i can still report to crame. the question is, will i go there tomorrow? ah, that remains to be seen. we’ll see.
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tomorrow, tomorrow, i love you tomorrow, you’re always (as a star circle kid questor puts it) away a day!
