Telum Media caught up with sibling journalists Joel Atencio and Peter Atencio on how they started their careers.

You’ve both been journalists since 1986? That’s a really long time...
Joel: I began my career in April 1986 with the Philippines News Agency. After that, I worked at a television station before starting a long career with Manila Bulletin. Then, I started teaching with Philippine Normal University as a Campus Journalism Instructor until I joined the Department of Education as an English teacher focusing on media information literacy.

Peter: I have been writing for the past 34 years. I started at Philippine News Agency covering the police beat before shifting to sports. I moved to Manila Standard in 1987. I did some pioneering work on online media back in 2000 with a start-up collegiate online publication.

How was it like to be a journalist during that time? Do you have fond memories of some of your assignments?
Joel: April 2, 1986, I was sent by my editor to cover this basketball game at Rizal Memorial Coliseum. With me was my mentor, Gerry Carpio, who was teaching me to write about basketball. There were the likes of Benjie Paras who was slam dunking. And a young Alvin Patrimonio with Purefoods Hotdogs amateur league. 

Peter: I started out with the police beat. I was covering a Marcos rally in Balintawak. It was an adrenaline rush. We were riding in a crew cab. There were a lot of people along EDSA heading towards UP. Because of the big crowd, two photographers went down to take photos of people who were gathering. When they took a photo of someone in military uniform, they got beaten up. That photojournalist became part of Inquirer. That was my first experience as a journalist.

Why did you shift to writing about sports?
Peter: They probably felt that the police beat was too risky for me.

Is journalism better today? Has technology enabled better journalism?
Joel: It is very accommodating these days with social media and the internet. With a flick of a finger, you can get information. You know where to stalk your sources and catch the news. You know which one is fake and which one is verified, or which one is developing. In an instant, you can just send your stories in seconds. Instead of quarrelling with desk people who can dictate your stories.

What would you say to today’s Filipino journalists?
Peter: Never be lazy. You have a lot of technology around you to use to cover events. You have to find the right source and information. We wouldn’t know if your social media source is giving out the right information. A lot of work is needed to sift through the interviews to gather the information you need.

Joel: You need humility and prayer. Keep a low profile. Don’t flash your press ID cards. Be like a chameleon and blend with the crowd to get the information. Think about having a conversation with friends at the coffee shop. That is how you get your information.

Speaking of press ID card, I hear you missed collecting the one needed to cover Pope John Paul II?
Joel: Pope John Paul II visited UST in 1995. I was covering education, youth, and campus. It was so memorable because I had to be resourceful when I missed the Presidential Security Group’s press ID distribution. I had to elbow my way with the Vatican guards, organisers, and university officials to get a ringside historic view of the pope’s visit at UST. It was a coverage of a lifetime.

You’ve both been in the industry long enough, is there rivalry between reporters?
Peter: The rivalry is just professional. But through the years, we’ve bonded. We become godfathers of other journalists’ children. Before the pandemic, we would gather around at the press media center. We would even play basketball or ask each other how we can out-scoop the other guy.

And as siblings who both practice journalism, is there rivalry? Or do you complement each other?
Peter: We complement each other. We learn from the others’ experience.

Joel: Before your question makes me cry, you can’t avoid resentments when we out-scoop each other. But at the end of the day, we are still siblings. We are still one big happy family.