Twitter and Graciano Lopez-Jaena

 

“You have to go where the story is to report on it. As a journalist, you're essentially running to things that other people are running away from.”

—Lester Holt

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

TWITTER more than any other social media platform shapes the stories that dominate our lives. In particular, one very powerful group of Twitter users is responsible for this—journalists.

That’s according to Michael Tauberg of Medium, who quoted X (formerly Twitter) boss Elon Musk as saying, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” 

News writers and other media figures were among the first to widely adopt the platform and they are the ones who take twitter information wars to the masses, according to Tauber. 

As renowned tech analyst Ben Thompson put it: “Most people don’t get their news off of Twitter; the places they get their news, though, are driven by Twitter”.

Had Graciano Lopez Jaena lived in this generation, he and many other post-colonial journalism heroes surely would have adopted the platforms of many contemporary journalists in the age of the social media. 

It would be a delight to “follow” a regular Lopez-Jaena tweet lambasting government graft and corruption, inefficiencies and incompetence, exposing the dolts in the military and police ranks, and blasting China’s misadventures in the West Philippine Sea.

But the son of Jaro, Iloilo City belonged in a different epoch where patriotism and the vow of poverty while performing a public service towered over subservience to colonial rule and material gains.    

 

-o0o-

 

More than a hundred years after his death of tuberculosis, many contemporary journalists lived a privileged life and in affluence, opposite to his sacrifices and heroism in a foreign land, where he wallowed in poverty before his 40th birthday.

Born on December 18, 1856 and died on January 20, 1896, Lopez Jaena was not only an outstanding journalist, but was also an orator at par with the country’s and even Asia’s best.

As the first Ilustrado to arrive in Spain where he started the Propaganda Movement against our Spanish colonizers, Lopez Jaena became revolutionary when he formed a triumvirate with Dr. Jose Rizal and Marcel H. del Pilar.

But he became well known for his newspaper, La Solidarid.

Before he became an icon in the propaganda movement, Lopez Jaena was first sent by his parents to study at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro which had been opened under the administration of Governor-General Carlos María de la Torre y Nava Cerrada.

In the seminary, he served as a secretary to Claudio Lopez, his uncle who was the honorary vice-consul of Portugal in Iloilo.

But he had ambition to become a physician. Lopez Jaena convinced his parents that he needed to enroll in a university in Manila.

He was denied admission at the University of Santo Tomas because he did not have a Bachelor of Arts degree when he was at the seminary in Jaro.

 

-o0o-

 

Lopez Jaena was appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice. He eventually dropped out due to financial difficulties and returned to Iloilo.

His assimilation with the poor ignited his feelings about the injustices common in that era. 

Lopez Jaena’s potentials as a reformer and writer became apparent at the age of 18 when he wrote the satirical story “Fray Botod” which depicted a fat and lecherous priest. Lopez Jaena ribbed Fray Botod’s false piety which “always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts were.”

The story was not published, but a copy circulated widely in Iloilo. The infuriated friars could not prove that Lopez Jaena was the author, thus he came off the hook, so to speak, temporarily.

The son of Jaro refused to testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan town, thus he was pilloried.

He continued to agitate for justice. When he received threats on his life, he sailed to Spain in 1879, where he pursued the Propaganda Movement.

 

-o0o-

 

In the land of our colonizers, Lopez Jaena became a leading writer, propagandist, and speaker for reform of the homeland.

He finally pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish, thus incurring the ire of Rizal.

Lopez Jaena defended why he did not finish his medical studies by saying, “On the shoulders of slaves should not rest a doctor’s cape.”

“The shoulders do not honor the doctor’s cape, but the doctor’s cape honors the shoulders,” Rizal intoned.

The national hero died of tuberculosis in poverty on January 20, 1896, 11 months short of his 40th birthday.

He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sub-Oeste of Barcelona the following day.

Marcelo H. del Pilar’s death followed on July 4. Rizal was killed on December 30 by firing squad in Bagumbayan.

Their deaths ended the great triumvirate of Filipino propagandists, but their works contributed to the liberation of their compatriots from the Spanish colony.

Lopez Jaena’s remains have not been brought back to the Philippines.

We commemorate Lopez Jaena’s 167th anniversary on December 18, 2023, an official holiday in the entire island of Panay.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

Lopez-Jaena and the FIFA final

“When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.”

— Tecumseh

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT is with great delight that as we commemorated Graciano Lopez Jaena’s birth anniversary on December 18, 2022, the attention of most people around the world would be on the crowning of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 champion.

Argentina and France would be disputing the most coveted title in soccer in Doha this year on the great Ilonggo journalist’s 166^th birth anniversary. 

We have always been proud to mention that Lopez Jaena, born on December 18, 1856 and died on January 20, 1896, was pure Ilonggo, or someone who spoke Hiligaynon and once lived in Jaro district.

In his generation, Lopez Jaena was not only an outstanding journalist, but was also an orator at par with the country’s and even the Asia’s best.

As the first ilustrado to arrive in Spain where he started the Propaganda Movement against our Spanish colonizers, Lopez Jaena became revolutionary when he formed a triumvirate with Dr. Jose Rizal and Marcel H. del Pilar.

But he became well known for his newspaper, La Solidarid.

Thus it’s not a coincidence that contemporary journalists flood the Western Visayas community with newspapers.

It runs in the Ilonggo blood: almost every freedom-loving and lovers of letters and literature want to dabble in community journalism or to own and manage their own newspaper in the Ilonggo-speaking populace.

 

-o0o-

Before he became famous, Lopez Jaena was first sent by his parents to study at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro which had been opened under the administration of Governor General Carlos María de la Torre y Nava Cerrada.

In the seminary, he served as a secretary to Claudio Lopez, his uncle who was the honorary vice consul of Portugal in Iloilo.

But he had ambition to become a physician. Lopez Jaena convinced his parents that he needed to enroll in a university in Manila.

He was denied admission at the University of Santo Tomas because he did not have a Bachelor of Arts degree when he was at the seminary in Jaro.

Lopez Jaena was appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice.

He eventually dropped out due to financial difficulties and returned to Iloilo.

His assimilation with the poor ignited his feelings about the injustices common in that era.

Lopez Jaena’s potentials as a reformer and writer became apparent at the age of 18 when he wrote the satirical story “Fray Botod” which depicted a fat and lecherous priest.

Lopez Jaena ribbed Fray Botod’s false piety which “always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts are.”

The story was not published, but a copy circulated widely in Iloilo. The infuriated friars could not prove that Lopez Jaena was the author, thus he became off the hook, so to speak, temporarily.

The son of Jaro refused to testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan town, thus he was pilloried.

 

-o0o-

 

The Ilonggo hero continued to agitate for justice. When he received threats on his life, he sailed to Spain in 1879, where he pursued the Propaganda Movement.

In the land of our colonizers, Lopez Janea became a leading writer, propagandist, and speaker for reform of the homeland.

He finally pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish, thus incurring the ire of Rizal.

Lopez Jaena defended why he did not finish his medical studies by saying, “On the shoulders of slaves should not rest a doctor’s cape.”

“The shoulders do not honor the doctor’s cape, but the doctor’s cape honors the shoulders,” Rizal intoned.

The national hero died of tuberculosis in poverty on January 20, 1896, 11 months short of his 40th birthday.

He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sub-Oeste of Barcelona the following day.

Marcelo H. del Pilar’s death followed on July 4. Rizal was killed on December 30 by firing squad in Bagumbayan.

Their deaths ended the great triumvirate of Filipino propagandists, but their works contributed in the liberation of their compatriots from the Spanish colony.

Lopez Jaena’s remains were never brought back to the Philippines, according to historians.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Why Ilonggo journalists are respected all over the world

“When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.”  —Tecumseh

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WHETHER we are in Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, Guimaras, Negros or in Gloucester, England; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Berlin, Germany; Kyoto, Japan; Pretoria, South Africa; Tuscany, Italy; Bordeaux, France; Stockholm, Sweden; and the United States of America, Ilonggo journalists are highly regarded.

It’s not only because of their skills, it’s in the Ilonggo blood.

More importantly, it’s because of Graciano Lopez Jaena.

When you’re Ilonggo and happen to be a journalist in a foreign land, you’re held in high esteem; invited in important affairs and given credentials to attend and cover international events and festivals. 

And because of his talent and the way he fought the “enemies”, the pride of Jaro, Iloilo City, who died in poverty, would have been a celebrity today in his own style, and could have earned for his account millions of social media followers vis-à-vis the superstars in the Vlog and TikTok generation.  

But Lopez Jaena, the first ilustrado to arrive in Spain, belonged in the generation where Filipino heroes had to offer their lives in a unique fashion and circumstances so their country could gain freedom from colonizers.

 

-o0o-

 

Born on December 18, 1856 and died on January 20, 1896, Lopez Jaena was not only an outstanding journalist, but was also an orator at par with the country’s and even the Asia’s best.

He started the Propaganda Movement against our Spanish colonizers and became revolutionary when he formed a triumvirate with Dr. Jose Rizal and Marcel H. del Pilar.

But he became well known for his newspaper, La Solidarid.

No wonder contemporary journalists in Iloilo and Negros today flood the community with newspapers despite the advent of Internet, a technology that almost emaciated general newspaper circulation and readership.

Almost every lover of letters and literature and freedom-loving Ilonggos who wanted to communicate to the world and expressed nationalistic sentiments through the printed medium would want to become newspapermen or own and manage a newspaper.

As a nobody, Lopez Jaena was first sent by his parents to study at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro, which had been opened under the administration of Governor General Carlos María de la Torre y Nava Cerrada.

In the seminary, the Ilonggo national hero served as a secretary to Claudio Lopez, his uncle who was the honorary vice consul of Portugal in Iloilo.

Because of his ambition to become a physician, Lopez Jaena convinced his parents that he needed to enroll in a university in Manila.

He was denied admission at the University of Santo Tomas because he did not have a Bachelor of Arts degree when he was at the Jaro seminary.

Lopez Jaena was eventually appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice but dropped out due to financial difficulties. He decided to return to Iloilo.

His assimilation with the poor ignited his feelings about the injustices common in that era.

 

-o0o-

 

Lopez Jaena’s potentials as a reformer and writer became apparent at the age of 18 when he wrote the satirical story “Fray Botod” which depicted a fat and lecherous priest.

Lopez Jaena ribbed Fray Botod’s false piety which “always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts are.”

The story was not published, but a copy circulated widely in Iloilo. The infuriated friars could not prove that Lopez Jaena was the author, thus he became off the hook, so to speak, temporarily.

The son of Jaro refused to testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan town, thus he was pilloried.

He continued to agitate for justice. When he received threats on his life, he sailed to Spain in 1879, where he pursued the Propaganda Movement.

In the land of our colonizers, Lopez Janea became a leading writer, propagandist, and speaker for reform of the homeland.

He finally pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish, thus incurring the ire of Rizal.

Lopez Jaena defended why he did not finish his medical studies by saying, “On the shoulders of slaves should not rest a doctor’s cape.”

“The shoulders do not honor the doctor’s cape, but the doctor’s cape honors the shoulders,” Rizal intoned.

The national hero died of tuberculosis in poverty on January 20, 1896, 11 months short of his 40th birthday.

He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sub-Oeste of Barcelona the following day.

Marcelo H. del Pilar’s death followed on July 4. Rizal was killed on December 30 by firing squad in Bagumbayan.

Their deaths ended the great triumvirate of Filipino propagandists, but their works contributed in the liberation of their compatriots from the Spanish colony.

Lopez Jaena’s remains have not been brought back to the Philippines.

 

-o0o-

 

(PG 13) Sexsomnia is the term US scientists use for people who perform sexual activities unconsciously during sleep. The spectrum ranges from masturbation to sexual intercourse - in the event that that the sexsomnia patient comes across a partner. (Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine).

NOT GUILTY. That's the verdict on fertility drugs and the possibility that they increase woman's chances of developing ovarian cancer. Doctors had long worried that there might be such a link. But now Danish researchers have analyzed records of 54,362 women and found, over an average 16-yr follow up, that those who took fertility drugs faced no greater risk of cancer.

NO DISHWASHING LIQUID? Let's grab the laundry detergent. A teaspoonful of liquid laundry detergent in a basin of hot water will cut grease on dirty dishes equally well (though we may want to wear gloves, as detergent can be drying to hands).

IF WE'RE LOW ON SILVER POLISH, LET'S USE TOOTHPASTE: Plain, non-gel toothpaste (without additives like whiteners) can rid small silver pieces of light tarnish without damaging the surface. Moisten the silver piece; apply a bit of toothpaste to our finger. Rub gently and rinse, then buff with a soft cloth. Source: Goodhousekeeping

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two Iloilo dailies.—Ed)

‘Fake news’ and Graciano Lopez Jaena

“Fake news has emerged a new menace, whose purveyors proclaim themselves as journalists and taint this noble profession.”

—Ram Nath Kovind

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF he were alive today, Graciano Lopez Jaena, who would have turned 164 on December 18, 2020, might resent the attitude of some politicians who call legitimate journalists and their scathing reports as “fake news” after being discombobulated by constructive criticisms.

The “fake news” expression was unheard-of during the Ilonggo writer’s salad days as a propagandist against the Spanish colonizers.

It was only when the media’s role to shape and influence the public opinion became supremely overwhelming in a pluralistic society more than a hundred years since Lopez-Jaena’s death that modern times politicians began to denigrate the mainstream media’s function in democratic states with gusto and spleen. 

“Fake news” incidentally became a byword invoked by non-believers of facts shared in the social media and who treat stories penned by legitimate but aggressive journalists with utmost cynicism and revulsion.

The truth is no principled and credible journalist will ever write, much less imagine drafting a bogus or “fake news” in the context designed by enemies of free press and expression.

It was also probably a coincidence that the greatest Filipino journalist was an Ilonggo from Jaro, Iloilo City.

Many of Lopez Jaena’s fellow journalists were hailed as martyrs after being murdered in the line of duty more than a hundred years after he died of tuberculosis in a foreign land wallowing in poverty before his 40th birthday.

Born on December 18, 1856 and died on January 20, 1896, Lopez Jaena was not only an outstanding journalist, but was also an orator at par with the country’s and even Asia’s best.

 

-o0o-

 

As the first Ilustrado to arrive in Spain where he started the Propaganda Movement against our Spanish colonizers, Lopez Jaena became revolutionary when he formed a triumvirate with Dr. Jose Rizal and Marcel H. del Pilar.

But he became well known for his newspaper, La Solidarid.

Contemporary journalists in Iloilo today flood the Western Visayas community with newspapers and magazines.

Almost every freedom-loving and lovers of letters and literature would want to become newspapermen or own and manage their own newspaper in the Ilonggo-speaking populace.

It runs in the Ilonggo blood after all.

Before he became an icon in the propaganda movement, Lopez Jaena was first sent by his parents to study at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro which had been opened under the administration of Governor-General Carlos María de la Torre y Nava Cerrada.

In the seminary, he served as a secretary to Claudio Lopez, his uncle who was the honorary vice-consul of Portugal in Iloilo.

But he had ambition to become a physician. 

Lopez Jaena convinced his parents that he needed to enroll in a university in Manila.

He was denied admission at the University of Santo Tomas because he did not have a Bachelor of Arts degree when he was at the seminary in Jaro.

 

-o0o-

 

Lopez Jaena was appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice. He eventually dropped out due to financial difficulties and returned to Iloilo.

His assimilation with the poor ignited his feelings about the injustices common in that era. Lopez Jaena’s potentials as a reformer and writer became apparent at the age of 18 when he wrote the satirical story “Fray Botod” which depicted a fat and lecherous priest. Lopez Jaena ribbed Fray Botod’s false piety which “always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts were.”

The story was not published, but a copy circulated widely in Iloilo. The infuriated friars could not prove that Lopez Jaena was the author, thus he came off the hook, so to speak, temporarily.

The son of Jaro refused to testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan town, thus he was pilloried.

 

 -o0o-

 

He continued to agitate for justice. 

When he received threats on his life, he sailed to Spain in 1879, where he pursued the Propaganda Movement.

In the land of our colonizers, Lopez Jaena became a leading writer, propagandist, and speaker for reform of the homeland.

He finally pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish, thus incurring the ire of Rizal.

Lopez Jaena defended why he did not finish his medical studies by saying, “On the shoulders of slaves should not rest a doctor’s cape.”

“The shoulders do not honor the doctor’s cape, but the doctor’s cape honors the shoulders,” Rizal intoned.

The national hero died of tuberculosis in poverty on January 20, 1896, 11 months short of his 40th birthday.

He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sub-Oeste of Barcelona the following day.

Marcelo H. del Pilar’s death followed on July 4. Rizal was killed on December 30 by firing squad in Bagumbayan.

Their deaths ended the great triumvirate of Filipino propagandists, but their works contributed in the liberation of their compatriots from the Spanish colony.

Lopez Jaena’s remains have not been brought back to the Philippines.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)