InnerView is Pinoy Centric’s brand of insightful conversation with Filipinos who matter.

Our inaugural interviewee is award-winning Filipino journalist Sheila S. Coronel who was recently appointed director and faculty chair of the newly established Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York. Coronel founded the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and was instrumental in promoting the importance of investigative journalism in the country. The interview was conducted by Sylvia L. Mayuga, a seasoned lover of country.

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Sylvia: People who haven’t met you want to know, Sheila - who was your first interviewee?

Sheila: I don’t remember. What I do remember is one of the first interviews I did that got a lot of attention. It was with a private detective on the prowl for philandering husbands. I got dozens of phone calls.

The article was for an issue of Panorama magazine on interesting jobs. I got the detective. Someone else got the woman who cracked eggs for the Magnolia food processing plant. This was 1982.

Sylvia: Next question - what’s the most dangerous situation you’ve ever been in as a reporter?

Sheila: The most dangerous was probably the 1989 coup when I was in Makati, kissing the pavement for fear of getting caught in the crossfire. There were RAM soldiers on the building where the Reuters office was located. I was filing my stories for the New York Times.

I had to go back and forth there (wireless filing was unheard of then) amid the gunfire, walking down Makati Ave with my hands held up in surrender, hoping the soldiers on whichever side won’t shoot.

We got word that the building would be attacked, so I evacuated the entire Reuters staff in my little car. Someone waved a white t-shirt as I drove, then the shots started coming. I stepped on the gas and put my head down. Somehow we made it.

Sylvia: There’ve been more PCIJ stories to die for since then, but name me your favorites.

Sheila: The series of reports on Estrada’s unexplained wealth and the mansions he was building for his mistresses; the series published in 1997 on corruption in the Supreme Court; and the study on the composition of Congress published in 2004.

Sylvia: The first one changed history. “The Rule makers” about Congress has just begun to seep into popular activism. How about your favorite interviewees thus far?

Sheila: Imelda Marcos - she acts like a diva and says the craziest things. Cory Aquino - she goes straight to the point and tries to earnestly answer every question thrown at her.
Rene Saguisag - he agonizes all the time.

Sylvia: Funny! Another zoom out question, Sheila – what would you say is the biggest challenge to journalists the world over these days?

Sheila: Journalists, especially investigative journalists, are working in increasingly narrow spaces, hemmed in by the demands of the market on one hand and restrictions imposed by states on the other. The challenge is how to preserve and expand these spaces to enable more watch dog reporting.

Sylvia: Especially in the Philippines.

Sheila: The most immediate problem there is the wanton killing of journalists and the government’s seeming inability to provide the press with protection from attack.

Sylvia: So all things considered, the most asked question of you these days is why you left the Philippines when it so badly needs journalists of your caliber. Anong sey mo?

Sheila: There are many responsible and brilliant journalists still in the country. What a conceit to think that Philippine journalism is crippled without me.

The killings are worrisome, but generally they take place outside the big cities, as you know. Journalism is still very much a viable profession in the Philippines.

Many young people still want to have jobs in the media. The Philippine media are powerful and influential. Filipino journalists have clout and can influence public policy for the better.

Journalists can do a great deal for the public good if they do their jobs right. It is still a profession worth getting into.

Sylvia: So what was the greater frustration in the Philippines, the politicians, the military or media for sale?

Sheila: The competitive media market that makes it difficult to find a space for serious journalism. And there’s that fixation with ratings, particularly of TV.

Sylvia: That’s part of what makes PCIJ an oasis. Deeper into the heart now, how could you bear to leave it? You’re a founding mother — and these nearly 20 years have been as much fun as they were institution-building.

Sheila: I’ve been executive director for 16 years. I thought it was time to move on, to allow the organization to grow without me. I didn’t think it was healthy for someone to head PCIJ for that long.

And of course, the Columbia offer was very difficult to turn down. It was a chance to start something new, to take up a new challenge, and in one of the greatest cities in the world at that.

Sylvia: True. But I, too, worry for PCIJ without you. What’s the holding pattern right now?

The PCIJ will continue. It has a committed staff and board. It has a pool of reportorial talent. There continues to be a need for investigative reporting in the Philippines and elsewhere. The PCIJ will continue to provide a home to journalists who want to report on issues in depth. I am still on the PCIJ board, but obviously can’t attend board meetings anymore. But I have promised to help in whatever way I can.

Sylvia: Alecks was feeling down the other day. (Alecks Pabico is PCIJ’s young webmaster who also oversees its archives.)

Sheila: I know that Alecks is feeling orphaned, probably more than the others. Vinia (PCIJ researcher) kasi was on leave the whole week last week, so he’s probably feeling alone. But it’s like having an OFW mom; the kids learn to cope and to do things on their own.

Sylvia: Who’s on top of things while PCIJ doesn’t have a new executive director?

Sheila: Cecile Balgos has been editing i magazine and PCIJ stories for about 10 years now. She’s great - now overseeing the editorial outputs. She’s in Chicago right now to accompany elderly parents who are there for a seminar (her dad’s a lawyer) and also a vacation.

Sylvia: Interesting. What’s the deal with Columbia J School?

Sheila: I’m on probation for a year; we’ll talk about a contract after that. Ask me next year. For now, I have an HB visa valid for three years.

Sylvia: What’s your working day like there now? And how would it differ from PCIJ?

I have time for a proper breakfast here, and I’m at Columbia by 10. I read the New York papers online, answer email and prepare for my classes. Students come and go.

I’m just in the learning phase — reading up on New York government, New York politics, everything I can get my hands on. My class has to do reporting in New York. I have to cram a whole body of knowledge about the city in my head because I haven’t done any reporting here at all.

At PCIJ, it’s much more hectic – phones ringing all at once, people demanding my attention all at once. I have to do many things there. Here I get to focus. It’s a luxury.

Sylvia: On the subject of learning journalism, Sheila, don’t you think that while you’re there, it would be good to do a parallel project in citizen journalism – with the Fil-Am community, to begin with?

Sheila: Yes, I think so, especially with big breaking news.

Sylvia: Yes, seems to be coming. Dubya’s headed for trouble. And of course, there are the terrorists – you never know what next.

Sheila: There would be downtime though.

Sylvia: News downtime could be for arts and culture, don’t you think?

Sheila: Yes, let’s talk about it some more.

Sylvia: Now another time-telescoping question. You went from a degree in education into journalism. What do you think would have happened if you’d done formal journalism first?

Sheila: As you know well, I learned journalism on the job, on the streets, in the press club, in the mountains, just about anywhere but a classroom. I think that enriches my teaching of journalism. If I did it in reverse, it wouldn’t have been as rich or so much fun.

Sylvia: We met a lot of the global media when they descended on us like locust swarms in the 80s. Have you seen a difference between Pinoy journalists and journalists of other nationalities, beginning with the Americans?

Sheila: There are more similarities than differences – the same curiosity, stubbornness and passion for the story. Americans tend to be noisier and more in-your-face when they ask questions, though. Pinoys are more polite. They smile even when they ask a tough question.

Sylvia: Last question - an icon watcher wants a peek into the contents of your reporter’s bag.

My bag has a cellphone (with PDA), a couple of pens, a notebook, my flash drive, tissue paper, hand sanitizer. In Manila I had a tear gas canister, thanks to Gerry Kaimo. Of course, I also had car, office and home keys, as well as keys to two apartments I could use in case of emergency, thanks to two friends.

Sylvia: Okay, will let you go now. Thanks a lot. Good luck on the launching of the Toni Stabile Center.

Sheila: Ok. Goodnight.
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Here’s the official photo of me with the Toni Stabile students. These are the masteral students specializing in investigative reporting. They are, of course, all taller than me. There are two lawyers in the group, one police investigator, a Greek, a Turk and a Jamaican. We launch the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism Sept.26 with a little coming out party that includes a champagne toast (I don’t know whether they’ll break the bottle on my head).