MANILA, Philippines – Veteran journalist Amando Doronila died on Friday, July 7, in Australia. He was 95.

Doronila died of pneumonia, according to the Manila Times, a publication that he had previously written for, citing his eldest son Agustin.

Doronila – “Doro” to the generations of journalists who worked with him – started his career as a reporter and columnist in the Manila Bulletin. He would soon set his focus on politics, writing columns for the Daily Mirror from 1963 to 1972, building his reputation as a respected political analyst.

Prior to the declaration of Martial law under the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, he served as the president of the National Press Club of the Philippines and taught as a part-time journalism lecturer in the University of the Philippines.

He was an editor of the Manila Chronicle when Marcos suspended the writ of habeas corpus after the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing – a move that the Chronicle vocally opposed. Doronila was among the journalists who had warned the public about Marcos’ intention to scare the people into accepting Martial Law.

Doronila, with hundreds of others, was soon detained after Marcos announced the imposition of Martial Law. He was released in December 1972 under the stifling oath that he would not participate in anti-national activities, not work without prior approval from the army, and not participate in any interview with local or foreign media.

Doronila worked for The Age in Melbourne, Australia, for a decade starting 1975, and later returned to the Manila Chronicle as editor-in-chief and political columnist. He was also a columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

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Earlier in 2023, the veteran journalist released the second part of his memoirs, entitled Doro: Behind the Byline, which discussed his years as a reporter and his experience as a political detainee under Marcos.

Journalists who were fortunate to have worked with Doronila paid tribute to his legacy, among them, Pulitzer Prize winner Manny Mogato who described his former editor as the “journalist’s journalist.”

– Rappler.com