From reader to writer: My Inquirer anniversary

CONTRIBUTED

As the Philippine Daily Inquirer celebrates 39 years of peerless and fearless journalism this month, I am also celebrating a milestone with the country’s largest broadsheet. December 2024 marks exactly 12 months since I began writing for Inquirer Motoring (also known online as Mobility PH). From producing news items to data-driven road-safety reports, I am truly blessed to have reached a pinnacle in my nearly decade-long career in something that I truly love: cars.

But this was just supposed to be a sideline for my lifelong ambition to become a lawyer. Just how on Earth did it all go so wrong yet, happily, end up so right?

From dropout to scribe

All was set.

I finished journalism (cum laude for good measure) at the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Diliman in 2015. Everyone said this would be the perfect pre-law program, given my gift for gab and the voluminous writing that I would be expected to do as an attorney.

I was also able to get into U.P. Law – some 20 years of ambition and preparation meant my dreams were finally coming true. All I needed to do was enroll, survive, graduate and pass the Bar.

And with the help of some industry friends, I got my start as a motoring journalist by writing part-time for The Manila Times. Study to be a lawyer and write about cars on the side – how could anyone go wrong with that?

I unfortunately failed to account for one thing – I was catastrophically bad at studying cases.

Contributing to the digest pool was fine, but when asked in recitation to elucidate one of the 150 or so cases that I had to study that week, I was like a bleary-eyed deer in the headlights (“Sit down, Mr. Bacungan,” remains a core memory of my law-school days).

Perhaps the final straw was when I got dengue midway through the semester – after nearly two weeks in the hospital, which included celebrating my 22nd birthday attached to an I.V. line, I returned to U.P. Law just in time to absolutely flunk my midterm exams.

I dropped out shortly after and cut my teeth in the motoring beat full-time under the guidance of Anjo Perez (who recently returned as The Manila Times motoring editor) and the kindly Conrad Carino.

Writing about his mom’s “love affair” with a 2002 Honda City tested his emotional strength.

Going beyond cars

In July 2016, I joined the multimedia age when I became a Digital Producer for CNN Philippines, covering everything that happened during my shift (“General Assignment” in reporter parlance).

This was a whirlwind time as it coincided with the start of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency and the vitriol and troll farms that came with it – one of my earliest assignments was to cover and write about one of the former President’s notorious nighttime press conferences. Besides starting hours late, his rambling went on and on into the early morning.

The author travelled to Taiwan to cover the KIA EV day where the EV3, as well s, the PV5 and EV4 concepts were launched.

Nonetheless, my time in network news opened my eyes to a world far bigger than glamorous car launches and sumptuous media drives. And under the expert tutelage of legendary journalists like Tress Reyes and Pia Hontiveros, I got my chance to write for and appear on television. This era was also when I understood how mobility took on many forms and affected everyone, especially those who could not afford to buy a car – this was reinforced when I became a VERA

Files Road Safety Journalism Fellow in 2017, producing multimedia reports on making our country’s roads less deadly for all who use it.

Organizing gymkhana and sprint races is among the author’s other passions in life.

I left CNN Philippines in March 2018 to return to U.P., this time to take a master’s degree in English. Thankfully, I was able to stay in journalism in various capacities, from being a Business Mirror motoring contributor under the fabulous Tet Andolong to covering the 2019 midterm elections for VERA Files.

This was also when I started my racing career, which surprisingly panned out far better than my foray into law.

The author has an exclusive one-on-one with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem at the FIA Region II Roundtable session in Cebu,

Joining my heroes

Fast forward to December 2023 – my year-long stint at AutoFun Philippines had abruptly come to an end when the head office in Malaysia had announced our bureau’s closure.

Although I was offered to stay onboard in the publication’s sister company, I decided to pursue new things. But when my old AutoFun Philippines boss Mikko David told me about an opening at the Inquirer, I went starry-eyed.

I have been reading this broadsheet every day for over 20 years. Indeed, my love for cars was fostered by the fantastic tales of erudite scribes like the legendary Tessa Salazar, who I am truly honored to now call my colleague.

Among the many test drives he did in his first year with the PDI, the Mitsubishi Triton GLS was a favorite.

After meeting Inquirer Motoring editor Jong Arcano at a media Christmas party later that month, he set me straight to work by writing about the very event we were attending. After some harried picture-taking followed by hangover-driven writing the next day, the rest was history.

I wish to thank our generations of dear readers, who have stayed with us all these years on our print and online publications. This great privilege of regaling you with substantial and meaningful stories is one that I hope to retain for decades to come.

It sure beats law school (at least, for now).