Manila Bulletin editors

By Gary Mariano
De La Salle University

The Manila has had 12 Editors in Chief since 1900 when Carson Taylor set up the Manila Daily Bulletin. Eight of them were Americans as the paper was meant largely for Americans in the Philippines. In 1957, Hans Menzi, a Filipino of Swiss parentage, bought the Bulletin and appointed its first Filipino editor, Felix Gonzalez.

Ben Rodriguez was the longest-serving editor with 30 years. His American counterpart, Roy Bennett, was editor for 24 years, starting when he was only 29.

During the Marcos dictatorship, Menzi renamed the paper as the Bulletin Today. Since 1986 it has been known as the Manila Bulletin.

1. H.G. Farris. 1900.
   
2. George T. Rice. 1900. Deported by Gen. Arthur MacArthur, military censor, for criticizing the port captain of Manila.
   
3. Charles A. Bond. 1900-1905
4. William Crozier. 1905-1913
5. M.L. Steward. 1913-1918
6. C. Russell Zeininger. 1918. Left to join the United Press in Chicago.
7. Roy Colman Bennett (1889-1967). From 1918 until Jan. 2, 1942. Studied at the Missouri School of Journalism. During the War, Bennett was interned in Fort Santiago and Santo Tomas. He returned to the U.S. after the war and edited a small newspaper in California. (Click here for a photo of Bennett; he's the man wearing glasses.)
   
8. H. Ford Wilkins. 1946-1957. Wilkins was the Bulletin's city editor and CBS correspondent just before World War II. His was the last American voice heard as the Japanese bombed Manila on Dec. 7, 1941; he never got to finish his report as he was cut off in midsentence. (Download that historic broadcast here.) He was also interned in Santo Tomas where he contributed to the short-lived camp paper, Internews. A POW database identifies a Harrison F. Wilkins. In 1957 Wilkins reported for the New York Times on the plane crash that killed President Magsaysay.
9. Felix Gonzales Gonzalez. 1957-1970. Better known as "Judge." Terrorized reporters over their copy. Grammatical errors and factual inaccuracy -- he happened to have homophonous middle and family names -- were enough to cause a rage in the newsroom. Emigrated to the US where he died.
   
10. Benjamin F. Rodriguez (b. 23 Sept. 1923, Jolo). 1970-1983, 1986-2003. Began as a cub reporter in 1951 and went through all the beats there were until Judge retired. There was a three-year interlude. President Marcos forced the hand of Menzi to "fire" Rodriguez over a correspondent's (Isidro Chammag) story that there were communist NPAs in Bataan. Rodriguez edited the company's smaller publications until 1986, when Marcos was ousted and his successor, Pat Gonzales, left to start his own newspaper.
    
11. Patricio H. Gonzales (d. 1988). 1983-1986. Gonzales became president of the National Press Club and the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists (1977-1979). After the 1986 EDSA Revolution, he founded the Philippine Tribune with Neal Cruz, of the Philippines Daily Express and an old friend.
    
12. Crispulo J. Icban Jr. Since 2003. Has been working with the Bulletin since 1974.
    

[I heard the names of Bennett, Wilkins, Judge from my mother and her father. Teresita Mariano worked in the Bulletin library from 1949 to 1988. Getulio Abanilla was cashier even before the War until his retirement in 1970. I did some reporting for Gonzales and Rodriguez. I interviewed Rodriguez and Icban for a 1990 graduate paper on the Bulletin. I'm still filling the blanks from where Mom and Tatay left off.]

Source: Pat H. Gonzales, Bulletin Today Style Book. Manila: Bulletin Publishing Corp., 1984