VETERAN JOURNALIST AND former “B” Editor-in-Chief Adolfo Ares Gutierrez was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the new Deputy Director-General of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), an attached agency of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), last August 22.
Through an order dated August 3, 2023, Marcos Jr. chose Gutierrez to help lead the government’s primary developmental communications arm, where he replaced Nicole Jocelle Managbanag.
Prior to his appointment, Gutierrez was the head of the Public Affairs and Information Services Office (PAISO) of the Quezon City Government. He was PAISO head from the last term of former Mayor Herbert Bautista up to the first three months of incumbent Mayor Joy Belmonte’s first term in 2019.
A veteran in the media industry, Gutierrez was twice elected to the national directorate of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and was a past president of the Filipino Press Club in the United Arab Emirates.
But Gutierrez’ roots can be traced back to the halls of San Beda. In an interview with The Bedan, he recalled that he started writing as early as sixth grade. His talents were discovered by his teacher in high school, eventually joining the Letran Scroll, the official student publication of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran (CSJL) high school department, as a sportswriter. Returning to San Beda for college, he joined The Bedan in his freshman year and in his fifth year he became the Editor-in-Chief of the publication’s 48th volume.
Gutierrez’ start in the media industry was also during his time as Editor-in-Chief, after he was recruited by the now-defunct Manila Chronicle as a correspondent. Following his stint at the Manila Chronicle, he has been with several media organisations.
Though not a journalism graduate, Gutierrez shared that his experience with The Bedan helped him a lot. But he also admitted that he is still getting a grasp of things, saying that “…when you are already there on the ground, nandoon ka na sa reporter ka na, you will be learning and unlearning things.”
He left the current generation of campus journalists with advice to brush up on their fundamentals as he observed that there is an “erosion of skill” with the ones that he worked with.
His says that his initial choice to join the government the first time around came from his batchmate Bautista and was short-lived. By 2016, Gutierrez decided that he wanted to “provide for his family” and their needs. He joined Bautista once again during his final term as Quezon City Mayor, after years of Bautista asking him to join his office.
Gutierrez also shared that prior to his appointment to the PIA, he had a talk with Rt. Rev. Dom Austin Cadiz, O.S.B., the University Abbot-Chancellor, to “seek his guidance” as his return to government service “was going to be a big undertaking.” In the end, as he accepted the new communications portfolio, he asked for the Benedictine community’s prayers not just for him, but also for the other Bedans in government service.
Photo courtesy of the Philippine News Agency
