By John Nery
When I realized I was writing my 100th column, I was assailed by the temptation to say something about what it is we opinion journalists do; I'm afraid I readily gave in. I started with Rizal's low opinion of the press. I ended (in a modest tribute to my colleagues, including those I've tagged) with a crucial distinction I hope even Rizal, that old ink-slinger, would approve.
In Rizal's novels, as in the Harry Potter heptalogy, journalists get a bad press. About a hundred years before J. K. Rowling gave us the "enchantingly nasty" Rita Skeeter, Jose Rizal created the equally inventive Ben Zayb. Or, rather, he transcribed the character from real life, Tolstoy-like. A footnote in the Locsin translation of "Fili" introduces Ben Zayb: "A character based on several Spanish newspapermen who wrote in the Manila newspapers, among them J. F. del Pan, Francisco Cañamaque, M. Walls y Merino, and others."
