Two Dreams in One Person

Journalism Skills (Blog Entry №1)

Both a journalist and a lawyer, Mike (Michael Jobert) Navallo is two of my dreams rolled up in one person. He studied Journalism and Law in the University of the Philippines, and graduated in 2005 and in 2009, respectively. Currently, he is a Justice beat reporter for ABS-CBN. In the last year, there are two instances I want to highlight that made me look up to him as a reporter.

In February 2020, he showed how dedicated he was in the pursuit of truth when he approached Solicitor General Jose Calida to ask for a copy of the quo warranto petition against ABS-CBN. This triggered an unpleasant reaction from Calida, and he accused Navallo of, “Lagi mo akong binabanatan.” Navallo then responded by saying that he was just doing his job because the quo warranto was part of the story.

In June 2020, SAGIP Party-list Representative Rodante Marcoleta denied his authorship of certain franchise renewal bills. However, these were already published in the House of Representatives’ website, and are therefore part of public records. Navallo reached out to Marcoleta to get his side of the story, but he responded late — on the day of the report’s release — and suggested that they conduct a press conference the next day. But because they were not allowed to do so with politicians or government officials, Navallo asked if he could coordinate with Marcoleta’s staff for the press conference instead. Again, there was no response.

In both situations, Navallo was fair, impartial, and transparent with his reports and with the way he tried to get the necessary information for it. As someone who plans to work with the law and in the media, I aspire to be as competent, brave, and resolved as he is.