DRIVING THOUGHTS

I called her “Deedee,” not “Tita Deedee,” as many did because she had always made me feel like an equal even if I had just joined Manila Bulletin Publishing  Corporation as Tempo deskwoman/reporter in 1982. 

Then, she was already Deedee Siytangco, well-known in the lifestyle beat.

In the Manila Bulletin, Deedee endeared herself as the unofficial “mother hen” who organized well-attended and well-managed Christmas parties every year. When someone was celebrating a special occasion or achievement, she would make sure everyone knew that by announcing it in the newsroom. Birthdays, anniversaries, the birth of a child, an award recognizing a reporter — all those were announced by Deedee in her matter-of-fact style. “Hey, it’s Louie’s birthday!” — she’d say.

To me then, the newsroom women personalities were Ethel Timbol and Deedee. I kept away from their paths because I felt so new in the company and had no claim to a good story. But Deedee would always greet me when we met at the corridor.

My best memory of Deedee was her kindness. When I was pregnant with Carlos and was still in the office late one rainy night, she offered to bring me home — and she and her husband Sonny did. My house was in Quezon City and she lived in Manila, a few minutes from the Manila Bulletin building.

As a journalist, I learned many things about getting the story from Deedee. The first time was the day after Ninoy Aquino was assassinated at the airport that now carries his name, on Aug. 21, 1983. Deedee brought me to the house of the Aquinos on Times Street, Quezon City. She was covering as MB reporter, and she introduced me as the Tempo reporter There, we did not stand outside the gate, we sat in the kitchen with Ninoy’s sister and other relatives who seemed at ease with her. From the conversations, I did my stories for Tempo. 

From the lifestyle beat, Deedee moved to covering politics because the big story now focused on Cory Aquino. When the snap election was held, Deedee brought me with her to cover the counting of ballots at Namfrel (National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections). It was the first time I covered such an important national event.

Deedee also brought me along to cover press conferences of visiting celebrities and entertainers. I used to wonder why she did that because she could have just given her story to Tempo, whose office then occupied the other side of the second floor in the Manila Bulletin building.

Deedee retired in 2017 but she never stopped writing. Her column, Angel Thoughts, continued until 2023. She also never stopped helping us get stories. A year after former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino had stepped down from office, she arranged an interview for us at his residence for a story that would come out on Aug. 21, Ninoy Aquino Day. There, Isabel de Leon and me spent an afternoon to evening talking to PNoy in a most casual setting in his living room at the house in Times Street. 

She also never stopped taking assignments. I’ve asked her to write on a variety of topics and she always delivered on the stated deadline. She had kept her nose for news, delivering a story on a theme topic but with another angle.

Last year I asked her to write about Cory Aquino to mark International Women’s Month. She had written about the former president many times, having been the former president’s spokesperson. But that piece was perhaps one of her best on former President Cory’s leadership style as told by four members of her Cabinet. 

It will be difficult to find another Deedee.