黑料社

THE UNTHINKABLE happened on Christmas Eve.

The newspaper had been put to bed early in deference to the occasion, so that it was the editors and staff of its online edition who scrambled to report that editor in chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc鈥攊nnovative, iconic, of frail figure but larger than life鈥攈ad passed into the light. Unthinkably, hours before the most important day of the season that she so loved, on the verge of a new year that promises to be critical to the nation.

A recitation of her credentials would annoy her; she who demanded detail from reporters to make a subject emerge robust and unique and not a mere name was not one to tout her laurels, although they were substantial and numerous. Now that she is gone, one casts about for words that would memorialize her, like a butterfly under glass, as seemingly infinite, like John Updike wrote, as 鈥渙ne of Vermeer鈥檚 moments frozen in an eternal light from the left.鈥�

But she herself readily talked about her work during martial law鈥攊ncluding Eggie Apostol鈥檚 Mr. & Ms. Special Edition that was a thorn in the side of the Marcos dictatorship鈥攅specially to the young generation of journalists, 鈥渢he ones,鈥� as in the song, 鈥渨ho are next in line.鈥� She talked about fighting strongman rule and the crying importance of remembering. She talked about Edsa I and the sheer folly of forgetting.

Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc鈥擫JM to most everyone鈥攃onstantly pointed out the historic role of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in the unraveling and eventual toppling of the dictatorship, and its current No. 1 status among the broadsheets, an institution that, from its ragged beginnings, steadily rose to become an agenda-setter in the national conversation.

Name an issue of national importance and LJM and her newspaper were in there pitching, come libel charge or advertising boycott. She seemed tireless, was hardly ever timorous, and was quite unafraid to push the envelope. It was not apropos of nothing that she thought up the phrase 鈥渃ourage beyond words鈥� to mark the newspaper鈥檚 30th anniversary this month鈥攁 milestone about which she was excited and for which she prepared assiduously, overseeing a commemorative book as well as a special supplement on top of the daily task of putting out the paper.

Carrying the torch

鈥淲e have carried the torch from Edsa I,鈥� LJM told an aspiring reporter, Dexter V. Cabalza, who was sent to interview her for the newspaper鈥檚 anniversary supplement early this month. 鈥淲e have a history. It is a backstory of excellence and commitment to democracy, to the public good and public welfare. At the end of the day, those are what we should remember as we invent and reinvent the paper every day.鈥�

She also said as much at another time鈥攊n October 2012, in closing remarks at the trainers鈥� training workshop of the Inquirer Training Center. 鈥淓dsa is our backstory. It鈥檚 in our DNA. It鈥檚 our history and heritage. It is the one thing that differentiates us from all other media organizations,鈥� she said, adding:

鈥淭he Inquirer is the keeper of the Edsa flame.鈥�

Indeed it is. Under LJM鈥檚 stewardship, the newspaper showed the way in keeping to the ideals that made Edsa I possible: a refusal to bow to tyranny (of power, of numbers, of money), a passion to preserve the regained democratic space. She strove mightily to capture, and hold, public attention with reports on corruption, malfeasance and chicanery at the top, and, as a result, stirred public imagination on the necessity of being discontented with what is and of being demanding of what could be.

Boston Brahmin

听

But these are mere superlatives. The fact was, like Katharine

Graham, LJM was reluctant to take up the position of editor in chief that Inquirer founding chair

Apostol was offering her. Somewhat the equivalent of Benjamin Bradlee鈥檚 Boston Brahmin, she was not eager to join the mostly male editorial team and seemed happy enough with an opinion column titled 鈥淟eavings,鈥� which she wrote two to four times a week starting on July 30, 1988, up to May 25, 1991.

(In her first column, she thanked Joaquin 鈥淐hino鈥� Roces for giving President Cory Aquino a talking-to about the 鈥済raft and corruption, and the other grisly etceteras plaguing her administration in its second year.鈥�)

But having overcome her reluctance, she accepted Apostol鈥檚 offer and took on the post in June 1991. To put it tritely, she never looked back.

Talking about her experience at the same trainers鈥� training workshop, LJM said: 鈥淭here are no men or women in the newsroom, only humans, the better to engage the public emotionally.鈥�

鈥淪exless in the newsroom works,鈥� she declared. 鈥淲hen it doesn鈥檛, let gut feel take over.鈥�

These are the intangibles in LJM鈥檚 stewardship, in her style. That emotional engagement with the public, that gut feel, that astute finger on the public pulse, have made the Inquirer what it is: a household fixture, an indispensable component of the working day, a newspaper of record, a business bible, disarming, trendy, passionate. And fearless.

She came to work attentive and cheerful, somehow calling to mind what Susan Sontag told Jorge Luis Borges in a letter: 鈥淵ou showed that it is not necessary to be unhappy, even while one is clear-eyed and undeluded about how terrible everything is.鈥�

She worked well into the night鈥� a night creature if there ever was one鈥攁nd immersed herself in the exasperating minutiae of producing the paper. She was truly hands-on, kept posted by her staff of goings-on even when she was at home or in transit.

Poring over Page 1 reports, she changed titles and jumbled paragraphs. She phoned Research and wanted a specific quote, date unknown, just when the staff was about to call it a day. She insisted on formulating the newspaper鈥檚 each Christmas Day greeting, except, poignantly, this last one. She drove herself as much as she drove her troops.

(During my time at the news desk, when I was on vacation leave and the 鈥淗yatt 10鈥� resigned from the GMA administration, my phone rang. It was LJM at the other end of the line: 鈥淗i, Chats,鈥� she said in her familiar husky drawl. 鈥淭his is duty calling.鈥� Thus was my trip to the mall derailed.)

Pillar of strength

But LJM had as well an emotional engagement with her people.

Worrying one night even about what then reporter Lindablue Romero would wear to a formal coverage, she strode to her desk, pulled open a drawer and produced a pair of black stockings.

On a page in Time magazine (Nov. 13, 2006) that featured her and Apostol as 鈥淎sian Heroes,鈥� she affixed her autograph along with a note to editorial assistant Christine Ang: 鈥淒ear Tintin, you鈥檙e the real (unsung) hero who makes us look good. Thank you for all your help and your faith.鈥�

In December 2005, she told yet another young interviewer, Kathryn Reyes, about her outlook: 鈥淭he Inquirer is going to be there for more than a hundred years. It鈥檚 going to survive all of us. It鈥檚 going to be there for the Philippines, for the world. It鈥檚 going to be there, like a pillar of strength.鈥�

When news of LJM鈥檚 passing broke like an icy stream of air on Christmas Eve, her people recoiled in shock and then were reduced to weeping.

(Editor鈥檚 note: The wake for LJM is on Dec. 27-29 at Aeternum at Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City.)