Emil Jurado Jr., 98

A dear friend, mentor and colleague in the journalism profession, one of its finest practitioners, will be cremated and inurned this morning, June 9, after the funeral mass, at Heritage Park. Lawyer and veteran journalist Emiliano Pacis Jurado Jr., died on June 2, 2026, at 11:30 p.m. at the Makati Medical Center. He was 98.

Emil was a long-time chair emeritus of the Manila Overseas Press Club, Asia’s oldest and most prestigious press club and a lifetime member of the National Press Club. He was one of the co-founders of the broadsheet Manila Standard, along with journalist Rod Reyes in 1987. He wrote the column, “To the Point” in the Standard.

Emil covered 13 presidents, from Manuel Roxas in the late 1940s to Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. In his book of memoirs, “The Road Never Ends,” published in 2020, Emil tells of his life from when he was child in Dolores, Abra to his studies (AB) at Ateneo de Manila.

Emil’s dad, Emiliano Cortez Jurado Sr., the first Jurado came from Spain: “My late father told me that the first Jurado was a guardia civil, stationed in the sub-port of Magsingal. His first name was Canuto. Later on, Canuto brought along a brother named Abdon, who also settled in the town. After many generations of intermarriages with Spanish mestizas and Filipino indios, my father was born. He was the son of a farmer, a ‘nagtatalon’, as they were called.”

Emil’s father “was a product of Spanish public schools. He spoke Spanish. He eloped with my mother, Margarita Pacis. He had to, since the Pacis family, whose house was beside the town hall, considered themselves higher in status than the farmers. In any case, through hard work and patience, my father became a teacher. Soon he became a district supervisor assigned to Abra, then a sub-province of Ilocos Sur.”

Emil Jr. earned his law degree from the Philippine Law School. He was a columnist, radio and television commentator from 1954 until the declaration of martial law in 1972. In 1973, he founded and became the first president of the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas (KBP).

In 1986, after People Power, he helped me revive the MOPC, with the unstinting support of media tycoons Abe Yabut of NBC, Nards Jimenez and Henry Gozon of GMA Network Channel 7 and of business leaders Ramon S. Ang of SMC and Manny V. Pangilinan of PLDT/Smart/Channel 5.

Emil taught English as a professor at Ateneo. He was a former associate lawyer, Salonga & Ordonez Law Offices (the law firm of Sen. Jovito Salonga and Sec. Sedfrey Ordonez), in 1955 and a former partner, Dizon, Jurado, Jurado & Vitug Law Offices (with Justices Arsenio Dizon, Jose Vitug, Desiderio Jurado, and Atty. Nereo Paculdo).

He was married for over 70 years to Trinidad Kapunan Capistrano.

The MOPC board of governors, which I chair, passed a resolution in his honor. Excerpts:

WHEREAS, Emiliano “Emil” P. Jurado, a towering figure of Philippine journalism, a lawyer, educator and much-loved member of the Manila Overseas Press Club, was born in Dolores, Abra and, through quiet determination and faith in God, rose to become one of the most influential voices in the history of the Philippine press, covering 13 presidents of the Republic from Manuel Roxas to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and bearing faithful witness to the Philippines’ triumphs and trials alike;

WHEREAS, he established the Manila Standard in 1987 with veteran journalist Rodolfo Reyes, built it into one of the country’s foremost newspapers, and remained chairman emeritus of its Editorial Board and a weekly columnist until the very last, on the premise that “journalists never retire;”

WHEREAS, Emil Jurado, as a lawyer as well as a journalist, was at the center of a pivotal Supreme Court case, In Re Jurado, which continues to shape the limits of press freedom and journalistic responsibility in this country, and is memorialized as a testament to his belief that a free press has the right, and the sacred responsibility, to hold power accountable, doing so carefully, accurately and with conscience;

WHEREAS, he distinguished himself as the founding president of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), a lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University and received numerous accolades in a career that spanned nearly 100 years of public service, including the prestigious Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rotary Club of Manila in 2022;

WHEREAS, Emil Jurado led the Manila Overseas Press Club with wisdom and warm fellowship for decades, gracing it with his experience and the kindly authority of a man who had seen it all and yet continued to believe in the journalist’s ability to rise above pettiness and greed, leading many in the profession to refer to him, with reverence, as the “Father of Journalists.”

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Manila Overseas Press Club, in solemn assembly, hereby expresses its profound grief at the passing of Atty. Emiliano P. Jurado and extends to the entire Jurado family its deepest condolences, sincere gratitude, and abiding love;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Club expresses on record its recognition of Emil Jurado’s lifelong service to the ideals of freedom, responsibility and fearlessness of the press, which he not only proclaimed, but lived, day after day, column after column, for more than 70 years;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Manila Overseas Press Club hereby renews its commitment to the values championed by Emil Jurado: the freedom of expression, the independence of the press and the unique role of the journalist as guardian of democracy and servant of the truth.

ADOPTED by the Board of Governors of the Manila Overseas Press Club on this 6th day of June 2026, in the City of Manila.

Antonio S. Lopez, Chairman Jimmie Policarpio, President

Ma. Lourdes Lilia Espinosa-Supnet, Secretary-General

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