GOODBYE, LETTY And thanks for keeping the fires of press freedom burning, while telling the Filipino story courageously, passionately and always with a sense of fun. INQUIRER PHOTO
When we heard the news on Christmas Eve, we were crestfallen. We could not believe the news. We did not even know Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc was seriously ill.
Not too long ago I called her up for projecting an issue in the Inquirer and she obliged by calling her office, explaining that she was on leave at the time.
She must have been ill already but she did not give me any inkling. In fact, from friends I heard she had wanted to visit when she found out I had cancer. I heard very positive experiences about her children and how they dealt with illness.
I remember her from much earlier days. We were both “military brats,” children of military officers who used to be driven to grade school in what I remember as a weapons carrier that conveniently transformed into our school bus. I studied in St. Paul’s College and I think she studied in St. Theresa’s.
She always told me to organize those “military brats” if they were still alive, but of course I never had the chance to do so. But together we understood that security sector reform was a major policy of government that should incorporate human rights in the enforcement of the law.
This was something we had discussed seriously in the late evenings where I would visit and bring cheese and red wine. There was one time I could not find Jacob’s Creek, a favorite of mine and the driver just bought Carlo Rossi. She scolded me for letting the driver buy Carlo Rossi. You don’t drink that. You use it for cooking.
From the dark days of martial rule up to the present, even before she took over as editor in chief of the Inquirer, Letty stood out among the brave and courageous leaders of media who dared the dictator and his minions, and who stood as staunch allies of human rights defenders in the broad antidictatorship struggle.
Never gives in
She had her share of rights violations in the regime’s suppression of press freedom, but she never flinched, never gave in. Because of this, she was a recognized claimant who by law will be awarded reparation and recognition for heroism and courage under the Marcos regime.
I remember her reminding me not to forget that she was among the claimants and I assured her that she was up there on the list.
It need not be said that in the long years of struggle to have the law on compensation to the victims of martial rule passed, the Inquirer was always with us, reporting the ups and downs as we dealt with Presidents and members of Congress who either encouraged or blocked us depending on which side of the political fence they happened to stand.
Thus, with Letty at the helm, my experience with the paper remained robust and healthy, confident that we had a newspaper that gave clear direction to the major issues of the day. Whenever our human rights issues landed on the visible pages of the paper, giant TV and radio networks as well as the provincial media would immediately follow to develop the story for the day. That was the strength of the Inquirer.
Sense of humor
But she had a good sense of humor, too. I recall texting her, congratulating the paper for projecting the year’s women leaders as the Inquirer’s choice—Grace Tan of the Commission on Audit, Chit Morales as Ombudsman and Leila de Lima as justice secretary—who were boldly projected on the logo space of the paper, with a brief caption.
Immediately below, however, was the headline announcing the arrest of three alleged terrorists. So, I texted her and asked her if the Inquirer had noticed that at first glance, one could immediately mistake those three courageous women as the terrorists who had just been arrested.
She laughed and laughed. Indeed, one could easily mistake them for the terrorists arrested. Grace Tan had a good laugh, too, but Chit Morales did not find it funny at all.
We grieve her leaving us but she left us a legacy of strength, courage and candor as chief of a newspaper that fears no vested interests as she stood strong through the years, always on the side of the public good, of change and progress for the benefit of the many.
She will be sorely missed not only by the Inquirer, but also by us, by the nation.