04/05/2026
Later last week, while I was in Manila, I met with Glenda Gloria, the Executive Editor of Rappler and we had an extensive interview. Glenda is planning a long-term writing project about Laoag City and Ilocos Norte; its people, culture, and politics. For the information of the public, Glenda was born and grew up in Laoag City.
Glenda co-founded Rappler in July 2011 and served as the Managing Editor and later becoming the Executive Editor. She worked for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Manila Times. Later, she went on to manage ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel, as its Chief Operating Officer.
Glenda graduated with a journalism degree at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Later, she acquired a master’s degree in political sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Then in May 2018, Glenda finished her Nieman Journalism Fellowship at Harvard University.
Growing up in Laoag, she studied at Holy Spirit Academy for elementary and went to MMSU Laboratory for High School Batch ’81.
She wanted to sit down with me and have a long-ranging interview because of the fact that my mother was a former Governor of Ilocos Norte and was the sister of the Apo, President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, the father of the incumbent president, Ferdinand B**g B**g Marcos, and the fact that yours truly followed in the footsteps of my mother and served as one-term Governor of Ilocos Norte and later, Mayor of Laoag City, and also the fact that I served two (2) presidents of the Philippine Republic both natives of Ilocos Norte.
While in Manila, yours truly together with my ay-ayaten, and my friends, visited Gloria’s office. I brought with me Shishir Inocalla (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Michaelangelo) and his friend, JJ Ildefonso and Fidel Nemenzo, my former running buddy in UP, whose father was the Dean of Political Science (and also my former teacher), and later went on to become the President of the University of the Philippines. Fidel knew Glenda before when they were both student activists while in college. And Glenda was also surprised to find out that my ay-ayaten was a former anchor of ABS-CBN News Channel Ilocos Norte while I was the Governor.
