Filipino journalists

WATCH: Former students, colleagues pay tribute to veteran journalist Luis Teodoro

Rappler.com
WATCH: Former students, colleagues pay tribute to veteran journalist Luis Teodoro
While Filipino journalists mourn his passing, they take comfort in knowing that Luis Teodoro’s legacy lives forever. Rappler's Bonz Magsambol files this report.

MANILA, Philippines – Former students and colleagues of Luis Teodoro remember him as a press freedom fighter, an educator who taught today’s generations of media practitioners, and an esteemed journalist.

They mourn the veteran journalist who died on Monday, March 13.

On Wednesday, March 15, the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication pays tribute to Teodoro, the UP CMC dean from 1994 to 2000. 

“Si Sir Teodoro po ay hindi po umabsent during his term. Talagang Monday to Friday nasa admin siya. Maraming problem ang dean sa totoo lang, pero si sir po tinatanaw na lang niya ang mga halaman sa bintana,” says Gina Villegas, administrative officer of UP CMC.

(Sir Teodoro was never absent during his term. He was present Monday to Friday. A dean has many problems to deal with, but you could see him just watching the plants outside his windows.)

Under Teodoro’s leadership, the UP CMC saw two of its departments – the journalism department and the communication research department – named as Centers of Excellence by the Commission on Higher Education.

While he actively participated in founding alternative media outfits, Teodoro supported the Philippine free press as a whole.

 “Isa rin si Dean Luis sa masugid na tagasuporta ng community journalism and alternative media sa Pilipinas dahil batid nya ang limitasyon ng corporate o mas tinatawag yang dominant media,” says Len Olea, secretary-general of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines.

When then-president Rodrigo Duterte threatened to revoke the franchise of media giant ABS-CBN, Teodoro said in January 2020 that the the shutdown of any media organization – whether big or small and whatever its views – reduces the number of contending voices which citizens can depend on for the truth.

Rappler’s Bonz Magsambol files this report. – Rappler.com

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