Day 13

Today was relatively more peaceful than the past days. It was a dry day, as the journalists I am with say. I stayed at Makati today still under Ms. Allison Lopez. I found out that Sir Marlon had not been showing up because he was reassigned to the Port Area in Manila. He was trying to reacquaint himself with the new beat which was more difficult than the South Manila beat. For the mean time he told me to stay in Makati and continue covering his old beat.

Sir Marlon’s old beat was entrusted to a reporter-trainee, Ma’am Nina Ctherine Calleja. I also found out that in the Inquirer, reporters had to compete with one another in order to be promoted as beat reporters. This time, Ate Nina was up against three other reporter-trainees, and she was assigned to the South Manila beat. If she performed well, she would be promoted as a beat reporter, but if the other trainees performed better, she would retain her desk work as a copy editor.

That’s a weird system they have at the Inquirer, but I think they designed it that way to keep reporters on their toes. They are using the positive side of competition to elevate the works of reporters. Theoretically, if something’s at stake—especially if it’s their job—the reporters are supposedly forced to work harder. Whether this was a bad thing or not, I’m not sure, but since the Inquirer kept it that way, I think the system works for them.

Today I only wrote about a stabbing incident in Las Pinas story. It was a very small crime story but I wrote it anyway because the victim died. It was this small information that made it a tad bit more relevant.

Putting the story together was also relatively easier because the police spot report contained most of the information I needed. The missing details were also readily supplied by the police officers on duty.

It turned out that the suspect stabbed the victim, a subdivision maintenance worker, for revenge. According to the police investigator, three years ago, the victim beat up the suspect for still unknown reasons. So, when the suspect saw the worker, he stabbed him on the chest. The investigator also said that the suspect was drunk, most probably, causing him to lose control of himself.

The victim was rushed to the Alabang Medical Center but was declared dead-on-arrival. The lone stab wound on the chest cost him his life. The suspect on the other hand was apprehended by the police after a canteen owner reported the incident. Murder charges are being prepared against the suspect, who is now detained at the Las Pinas police station.

That’s about it today. It’s really relatively peaceful.
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