Eugenia Duran Apostol, former newspaper publisher, dies at 100

Eugenia Duran Apostol, former newspaper publisher and co-founder of The Philippine Daily Inquirer, has passed away. She was 100.

On Facebook, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced that Apostol died on September 13, two weeks from what would've been her 101st birthday.

In the post, the Foundation remembered Apostol as the 2006 recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts.

“Apostol showed the power of a free press to speak truth, serve the public, and uphold democracy,” the Ramon Magsaysay Award said.

“Her legacy lives on in every journalist who continues to defend truth, independence, and the people’s right to know,” the statement added.

Apostol was born on September 29, 1925, in Sorsogon. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas in 1948 with a Bachelor of Literature in Journalism from the then Faculty of Philosophy and Letters.

In their tribute, UST's The Varsitarian recalled a 2008 lecture where "Apostol urged campus writers and media practitioners to practice 'fearless journalism,' emphasizing the press’s role in holding those in power accountable."

Before founding the Philippine Daily Inquirer with Max Soliven and Betty Go-Belmonte, Apostol served as editor for the women’s pages of The Manila Times.

A true champion of press freedom, Apostol also founded Pinoy Times in 1999 after then-President Joseph Estrada called for a boycott on the Philippine Daily Inquirer and sued the Manila Times.

Pinoy Times, designed as a tabloid for the masses was met with a deluge of problems — from hate mail to bomb threats to libel suits. But Apostol will not be cowed. Pinoy Times nearly tripled its circulation in 18 months with its special weekend editions selling up to half a million copies.

In 2006, Apostol was named among Time Magazine's “Heroes of Asia.”

— Hermes Joy Tunac/LA, GMA News