Looking Back and Seeing Further

            As a student, one of the major things that would drive me to write my articles is the deadline. Some journalists are compelled to write an article because it’s their job or they have a due date to catch up. Writing is a passion for a few journalists.

            It takes a lot of passion and dedication to write about things that can intrigue and at the same time educate a reader.

            While I am still a student, I never once thought I could interview the person whom I have high regards to. In a class assignment, we were given a task to interview our favorite columnist, to know about their life and to ask some tips about being a columnist. I was given the opportunity to have a glimpse of the life of a very dedicated and inspiring columnist—Dr. Lelani P. Echavez.

I’ve read her columns with various topics and it never ceases to amaze me how she can bend a simple experience to a life insight mixed with her own rendition of the story. She dwells deeply on facts and states her own sentiments.

            She started working as an opinion-editorial columnist in 1980 for Visayas Observer circulated in the Visayas and Mindanao.

            In an e-mail interview, she said that she loves to write, share and gather ideas from the readers. She shared that the easiest part of being a columnist is to speak from a personal experience and to have many information materials to use in her column. As a columnist herself, she said the hardest part was her own biases towards an issue, to write a column involving friends and the deadline.

            In her five years (1981—1986) in Freeman, she received a handful of threats regarding the different articles she wrote. One of which is a threat during Martial Law after writing about the Communist Party of the Philippines.

            I asked her for some tips about writing a column and here’s what she said: “​(1)  Research, interview, weigh the facts, and analyze towards ferreting out the truth.​ Whatever you write, be sure you can defend it in Plaza Miranda. (2) Write, write and write.  Then edit, edit and edit ruthlessly.  Attribute your sources, if they agree.  If they don't, protect your sources.  You will not get their cooperation again if you betray them. (3)  Should you write and criticize your friends....who are politicians or others involved in issues affecting the community? I used to anguish over this, but learned the wisdom of the late Larry Henares who said, "Leave that to other writers; they'll usually comment on it.  Besides, there are other issues you can always write about with the same passion."”

            It’s difficult to impress everyone. It takes a lot of guts to speak out your thoughts. A single column can make or break your life. Many people will agree and disagree with you. These things, however, didn’t stop her from writing her columns.

            “Dialogue cannot create the need to change, but it certainly facilitates the process of change.” –Edgar H. Schein