Emano and how I started in media

Me at extreme right with Cagayan de Oro media veterans

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

THIS article you're reading is the third in a series of stories I am writing about the politicians in my hometown of Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines and how they shaped the province and Misamis Oriental's capital city of Cagayan de Oro.

I start by picking up where I left off, namely then Tagoloan mayor Vicente “Donkoy” Emano. 

The next meeting I had with him was when he became the governor of Misamis Oriental. At that time I just made a jump from a career in the judiciary to the fourth estate. 

Please bear with me as I tell this story which includes a side trip to my personal life because it is intertwined with the politicians I covered then.

In 1993 I resigned from the 6th Municipal Circuit Court and answered a “wanted reporter ad” from Gold Star Daily. I did not hesitate in handing my application and was accepted by the Editor in Chief Herbie Gomez.

That was when I started building a name for myself with all my reports from the city and regional courts making it as banner, front page stories thanks in large part to my connections in the courts. 

The name of Susan Palmes as reporter was slowly but surely gaining traction and notice in local media and political circles that a lot of politicians wanted me to interview them, thinking they will land in the front pages.

But to be honest I knew those politicians since most of them were my former professors and teachers then. 

I hung out at the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) then headed by the late regional director Gabino Ben Labial, who then informed me that dxCC Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) is in need of reporters.

Weeks before I applied at RMN I was a volunteer reporter at dxCO also where I started loving broadcast media. The thrill of your voice being aired live was thrilling.  

Anyway at the time of my interview with the late dxCC manager Abacu “Bobby” Mundo, then Misamis Oriental governor Vicente Emano was at the premises of DXCC for reasons I don’t know. 

I wasn't even finished with the interview when I overheard Emano speaking in a loud voice “hire her she is good.”  I worked at RMN as a reporter for only a few weeks and a month after I was promoted to anchor a 5 to 8 am public affairs program from Mondays to Fridays.

In between my reportorial and anchoring work I would be attending press conferences like those called by Governor Emano's office. 

Whenever I attend the press con Emano would always mention me and give much attention  to questions I would ask. It was at first a complement and confidence build-up.

I was elated because never did I think that I would be rubbing elbows or talking to the former mayor of Tagoloan who was now a governor. I must be honest I was proud of Governor Emano since he came from my hometown and I knew their family as being illustrious and elite in Tagoloan. 

Governor Donkoy was an elementary classmate of my maternal uncle the late Dorico Ejem Espellarga, the younger brother of my Nanay (mother). 

Uncle Dorico would tell me later in life that classmate Donkoy was “pilyo” and “kolokoy” at the Tagoloan Central School. Whatever he means by that I don’t know.

But later when Donkoy was already Cagayan de Oro City mayor, my uncle said he went to City Hall and asked help from Emano since he lived in Macanhan, Carmen at the time and sure enough, the mayor helped him. 

That's one side of Mayor Donkoy--he would help friends, classmates and supporters. 

I forgot to mention that during the time, Governor Emano and the late  congressman Victorico “Concoy” Chavez of Misamis Oriental's second district were already political enemies despite being relatives.

My own paternal family especially the Naelgas in Mojon and Sta.Ana were divided in whom to support. 

Most stayed with Donkoy at a time when Congressman Chavez supported the opposition in Tagoloan where I ran as kagawad (councilwoman). My own relatives in Mojon didn't vote for me or maybe only a few. 

I'll talk next time about the political culture and landscape in Tagoloan and Misamis Oriental when Emano was then governor and the emerging opposition was headed by his own relative, the late congressman Victorico “Concoy” Chavez.

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.
Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her email susanap.dennis@yahoo.com as well as her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)