Following journalistic heroes

Titus Brandsma Awards acceptance speech of Howie G. Severino

MANILA, Philippines - Thank you Titus Brandsma Center for honoring me today, and thank you to my loved ones, colleagues and friends for sharing this occasion with me.

I read about Father Titus Brandsma, the Dutch Carmelite martyr killed by the Nazis for whom this award is named, and it made me proud. But it was also humbling, for what did I do to deserve a leadership award in his honor? Or maybe being called a leader is also a function of middle age.

Honestly, I never entertained an ambition to be the leader of anything. Ever since the fifth grade, when I first decided to become a journalist, I only wanted to be a good follower… a follower of the best traditions of this profession, a follower of my journalistic heroes and role models.

That early instinct of good followership was affirmed by the example of those same heroes and great journalists who didn’t lead men into battle or run for public office or even manage organizations. But by simply working hard and braving assorted hazards to find information and tell vital stories, these journalists performed an important duty to society. That was enough of a life’s mission for me.

But the Philippines is an unpredictable and strange country, and people become what they never planned, including accidental leaders.

The most famous and beloved accidental leader of our time has been ailing and has been in our prayers for weeks if not months. Allow me to digress a bit to say something about Cory Aquino.

One of the great fortunes of being a journalist my age has been the opportunity to watch her evolve from housewife to widow to president to icon to today’s moral example… and now as she waits to meet her maker she has become a reason for all of us to reflect on our own mortality and mission.

As a reluctant leader, someone who didn’t desire power but didn’t decline it when called by the people, Cory branded herself as perhaps the most unique political leader the modern world has known.

All the reminiscing these past weeks has served to remind us – even those of a younger generation – of a different time, when our fractious politicians coalesced selflessly around a single untainted leader, the Filipino people became one, and our politics was noble. The world once looked up to us.

I like to think that that nobility was imprinted in our national DNA by Cory and the other leaders of her time, so nobility is still there somewhere in our politics, just dormant, but ready to spring into action.

Cory never let us forget that the noble garden of people power was watered by the blood of martyrs, including her husband Ninoy, but also Evelio, Mac-liing, Lean, and many others.

And now this occasion to remember and honor, like Titus Brandsma, two others who died for freedom, press freedom, Edgar Damalerio and Marlene Esperat, personal heroes of mine. I feel blessed to have my name on the same program as theirs, …and to be alive.

No one here needs to be told how dangerous it is to be a journalist in the Philippines. But the danger is not equally distributed. Both Edgar and Marlene did their bravest work on radio while exposing anomalies in certain parts of Mindanao.

The fact that there are still fearless radio broadcasters in Mindanao means that Edgar and Marlene’s spirits are alive, driving the survivors among us to try to expose and weed out the corrupt, so that the nobility can bloom.

I am simply one of the lucky ones, nurtured by family, friends, and colleagues, and given an opportunity to be called a leader of our proud profession.

But perhaps it is these courageous souls toiling in radio with little recognition, far from Manila… who are the real leaders in journalism. May your tribe survive… and increase. I accept this award on your behalf.

Mabuhay po kayo at maraming, maraming salamat.