missed out on blogging yesterday. was just too tired when i got home at around 11:30 p.m. last night from a meeting at the inquirer office (i was awake since 5:30 a.m.). then i had to read for pi so by the time i checked my mail, my eyes were half-closed. had to hit the sack at 1:30 a.m. then i had to wake up at 5:30 this morning. sigh. what a long day it was.
but it did pay off. got a tagline on the william martinez story, which was the main story for the metro section today. sir christian did wonders with the article i wrote; otherwise i don’t think it would have landed there. he did get the byline.
the day before, i wrote on the same topic but it ended yesterday in the metro briefs—4 sentences short. i did get a solo tagline though. i guess my interview with senior supt. bernardo bondoc of pdea yesterday afternoon helped a lot because for the most part, we did get some additional info.
will i get even a tagline tomorrow? hmmm… i don’t think so. wrote just one article today, the one on muslims arrested in a raid at 3 a.m. (imagine, 3 a.m.—do they ever sleep?). by the time i finished it, the news came: 3 of the 12 arrested were abu sayyaf members. big story. that meant sir christian was gonna do it, apart from alcuin papa from the other side of edsa.
with no other “newsworthy” story, i called up bondoc again desperate for an update. there was none. that was it. i just picked up the book on rizal and started reading. halfway through the second page, i stopped. made small talk with the rest of the press corps and found out a startling discovery.
actually i learned about it way earlier. we were eating lunch when two reporters were already shouting at each other. it turned out that the vice president of the press corps was questioning the president’s decision to accept money (payola she would call it) from pdea (there was even mention of lacson, and cidg but i don’t really know). she was grilling the treasurer in front of us. i thought they were going to grab each other’s hair and engage in a “bitchfight” (pardon the term) but the vp just left. she wrote a memo instead, accusing the prez, posting it on the bulletin board and faxing it to some news agencies. the latter replied, posting his answer beside the first letter, then faxing it to the same news agencies. this scene looked familiar hmmm…i think i’ve seen such exchange of memos before…now, if i could just remember.
anyway, the vp was fuming mad because if the payola stuff was true, it meant jeopardizing the integrity of the whole pnp press corps and the news agencies they represent. other reporters voiced their condemnation while the others simply had other things to do. there was a press con after all, scheduled at 1 p.m. but which started at 2. then, goltiao had something to say. another press con was set at camp aguinaldo.
covering the press con was somehow fun in that all the reporters were there, exchanging stories while waiting for that lousy aglipay (who never came anyway). but what saddened me was the seeming insensitivity of the media toward the arrested persons. they were smiling, less than serious, and were even the ones directing the show (sir, hawakan niyo muna m-14, photog muna, etc…) as if a bunch of persons were not getting humiliated in front of them (weird, the suspects didn’t look humiliated btw). oh well, maybe because they’ve covered events like these for the nth time.
tomorrow might be my last day in crame (sad). got our new assignments last night. i’m covering the whole of san juan under a new boss, sir luige del puerto of the metro section. will start friday. that way, i’ll have more time to familiarize myself with san juan so by the time election day comes next next week, i should know what i’m reporting about.
i don’t know if i’ll be going back to crame after the elections. it all depends on sir gerry. i don’t even know if, given a chance, i’ll still opt for crame. it’s difficult for a trainee like me to get fresh stories unless i have contacts so that means i have to depend on my trainor. sometimes, it’s even hard to confirm stories from sources unless you want to spend that load of yours talking to some police director from a distant province. your call really.
on the other hand, sir christian is really a good reporter so getting stories shouldn’t be a problem. and i think i have gotten used to the place and the people that, while on board the mrt on my way home this afternoon, i somehow felt sad realizing that tomorrow might be my last day there… (o nagdrama). so i might go back to crame after all.
speaking about people, hmm… she was kinda sad yesterday when i reported to work. i would find out later, while eating (bad news always falls during eating time), that she was being blamed for not getting the pdea story which aired on channel 2. how could she? she had another event to cover the day before. was it her fault that aglipay was just too lousy a source he’s not even sure bout what he’s saying? but pdea is her beat so maybe, it was. or maybe the desk was just trying to wash their hands off so they won’t take the blame.
anyway, she rose from her seat around the table and walked off toward her cameraman, then out of the press office she went. didn’t see her again that day but i did see her crew and sir christian trying to console her. (hmmm…my boss really knows how to earn brownie points…). today, she was in a good mood—yeah as in good mood—that she and sir christian were kinda sweeeet. they were walking really close to each other. they were talking the whole time while waiting for the press con to start. (aglipaaaay, where were you?) no wonder hyper si sir christian after.
but i did get my moments too, hehe. last night, while on the way to inquirer with lawrence for the meeting, i texted her:
hi ma’am! i know your day didn’t start ryt. hope it ends well. -jobert
she replied:
tnx jobert m touchd sa concern na ipinakita nyong lahat rili apreciate it (19:30:24)
what did i say?
wala. ubos na load ko e, hehe.
oh well, last day to see her tomorrow. so i sent her a message:
hi! last day ko n ata 2m sa crame. wud it b ok f i tx u n lng kng pano ko makukuha survey forms? tnx a lot. had a gr8 tym at crame.
1 minute…
2 minutes…
oh, i forgot to put my name! but maybe she’ll recognize it.
5 minutes…
12 minutes…
maybe i should put my name on the same message.
25 minutes… 1 message received
mariz u: ay sayang sure cge u can txt me anytym (21:40:10)
me: tnx. hope i can bargain my way back 2 crame. or even gma7 hehe. anyway, andun lang nman c sir christian e.
and then no reply. gud nyt folks!
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do i love you because you are beautiful? or are you beautiful because i love you?
p.s. enough of this kahibangan. really, after tomorrow, it’s all gonna be over. and this blog is gonna be boring. but teodoro-friendly i hope. san juan, here i come.
DRIVEN. ambitious. determined. strong-willed.
