Every time we have an editorial board meeting, we face a fight or flight situation. Either we fight to publish the issue or “flight” because the news article or editorial is not worth publishing in the student paper. When the Hello Garci scandal erupted, we were preparing to publish the July 2005 issue of The LaSallian. Br. Armin Luistro, then-president of the DLSP system, was at the forefront of asking Gloria Arroyo to step down as president of the Philippines because of issues concerning her moral ascendancy. We strongly condemned her government’s actions and supported the Lasallian community’s stand. Meanwhile, we were also assertive in calling out the administrators and student leaders who were ineffectively performing the roles entrusted to them.
“There is nothing new under the sun” is the theme of Ecclesiastes. To stress this biblical truth, the problems people faced back in the day are the same problems that are hounding humanity now. Similarly, the issues that every The LaSallian editors and staff face from different generations are the same but morph into other circumstances and contexts. In our time, the student government discussed several changes in the student handbook. The student leaders and administrators also found common ground in arriving at an agreeable tuition fee increase. I also wrote an article about the ranking of DLSU as a world-class university, which is still “far from reality.” Whenever I read articles on its website, I still encounter news concerning student rights and how policies affect the students. I read a recent article about why DLSU slipped its ranking in the Times Higher Education World Ranking. Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun. However, Gen Z students can now learn from the wise decisions of the past. They can analyze a particular matter and relate it with how the past students and administrators resolved the case for the student’s best interest, the campus’s primary stakeholders.
Being part of the University section, I learned to develop a “nose for the news.” Long before the term Marites was created, we established relationships with faculty members who shared several insights about the issues affecting the campus. I once asked a professor, “Anung balita,” to which he replied, “You should tell me you are the reporter.” One controversial story we covered was a faculty member hugging students in exchange for good grades in an accounting course. He was charged with a sexual harassment case, and he was kicked out of the campus. I seized every moment to interview people from the community and learn from their insights. Back then, the student journalists were purveyors of truth, and they had the privilege of knowing prime events on the campus before they were released to the public. The social media platforms began to evolve a few years after my term.
I am forever grateful for the skills I learned in the student publication. I am also thankful for the mentorship of my fellow editors, who became my friends through thick and thin. For over five years now, I have worked as a news reporter for ABS-CBN International. From the training I remember, you must write as if a first-grade student can understand what you are saying. My tone of writing a conversational narrative may have developed through the years, but the principle of relaying it in a crystal-clear manner remains the same. What excites me is the different issues I wrote about in The LaSallian, which trained me to cover the pressing problems such as the hurricanes that unleashed their fury in Florida, the US Presidential Elections, and essential matters affecting the Filipino community across the US. Even if being a journalist is my side hustle, I cherish continuing the mission of delivering news not just as my career but as my calling in life. Even without obtaining a formal degree in journalism, being part of this publication is already an internship program to respond to the call. The experience is an accumulation of natural and authentic intelligence amid the proliferation of AI-generated platforms.
Even without pursuing a career in broadcast or social media journalism, I still encourage students to join The LaSallian. The students in their twenties can learn how to run and manage a publication and decide on news and opinion pieces that will be published, both in the paper and online. They learned leadership skills that cannot be developed by sitting in a classroom. They know how to face the pressures of life because they can deal with real-life complaints from the community. They can start to create their worldviews based on their experiences and dealings with other individuals in the academic community. More importantly, they can learn to discern the behavioral patterns of people, whether they are stating the truth or not.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
This article is an unedited submission from The LaSallian’s former editor in chief, offering a glimpse into the candid thoughts, insights, and perspectives of an individual who once steered the publication through the currents of time.
Paul Garilao was The LaSallian’s editor in chief in Academic Year 2005-2006. During that time, the Lasallian community took to the streets, calling for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign after the Hello Garci scandal brought to light allegations of electoral fraud in the 2004 national elections.
It was also a controversial time for DLSU when it found two Green Archers were inadmissible to play for UAAP Men’s Basketball for years, leading to UAAP suspending the University for one season. The LaSallian at the time published a front-page editorial, The road not taken, imploring the administration to reform its recruitment process for athletes.
Garilao graduated in 2007 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and worked as an engineer in the US Navy for over 11 years. After joining the service, he responded to the call of God and is now serving as the lead pastor of a local church in Florida. He obtained his Master of Divinity at Liberty University in Virginia and is taking his Doctor of Ministry at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts.
He is also a news reporter for ABS-CBN International and is covering issues affecting the Filipino community in North America. Garilao is married to Tefanee and has five kids, three of whom are homeschooled.
