COLUMN

WRITING
2018 Reg'l Journalism
Caravan
Region IV-A
CALABARZON

ABNER L. PUREZA
SSHT VI
Quezon NHS
THE COCONUT
 EDITORIAL COLUMN

• Article giving opinion/ perspective

• Approximately 500 to 850 words
• opinion of the columnist not necessarily
shared by the staff.
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 kinds/types of columns

Editorial column
• personal column found on the editorial
page
• makes use of humor to drive home the
message
• highest expression of press freedom
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 sample structure

1. Column's regular title

2. Headline - try to use some alliteration or
anything witty.
-Kitang kita ang kita / Money matters
-kwento ng kwenta / Silent session
use of pun - SPEDtacular / PROSTItuition
3. byline
 LEAD/intro.

•lead (hook)
•clearly present the main point
a.shocking statistics
The Department of Education confirmed that public
school teachers' debt has reached P300billion. This is the
accumulated value of teachers' loan from GSIS amounting
to P178 billion and Pag-Ibig Fund with P120 billion
excluding the loans from private lending institutions.
 LEAD/intro.

b. controversial statement
Prostituion is everywhere in Lucena City.
What is more shocking is that there are
more males involve in this 'trade' than the
females, city DSWD office reported.
c. rhetorical question
If we have forgiven the Japanese that
easy, why can't we forgive Marcos too?
 body.
•2-5 supporting facts (each fact is on its own
paragraph)
a.POINT - state the fact
b.PROOF - paraphrase or quote an external
source/ statement of same or related incident
c.ANALYSIS - comment on fact and proof
presented. Write about YOUR OPINION on the
facts you have included. Comment on each fact.
d. transition into a personal experience (optional)
 conclusion

•conclude by creatively restating your main

point.
•finish with a statement linking to your lead.
(a call for action works well)
 More isn't enough
The Department of Education
confirmed that public school teachers' debt
has reached P300billion. This is the
SHOCKING
accumulated value of teachers' loan from
STATISTICS GSIS amounting to P178 billion and Pag-
Ibig Fund with P120 billion excluding the
loans from private lending institutions.
It sounds alarming. There is an urgent
need for DepEd to launch finacial literacy
POSITION programs to educate them on how to
manage their finances.
 .
The proliferation of private lending institutions
lured teachers to borrow money since the salary
POINT #1 they receive cannot suffice even the simplest cost of
living. A teacher I item with a salary of P20,000 is just enough
for a single person's expenses for a month. The high cost of
living brought by high prices of basic commodities adds
difficulties to teachers financial struggles. The 2017 DepEd
statistics revealed that 7 in every 10 teachers are bread
winners of the family. Their salary is consumed by the family's
PROOFS
basic needs. They usually fall short of finances when
unexpected expenses come. So, they resort to loans in private
instituions who are more 'friendly' and accomodating. In fact,
DepEd states that 86 percent of teachers nationwide have
loans to City Savings, PR Bank, East West, Wealth, Manila
Teachers' Mutual Aid System and other lending instituions.
 .

There is a 49 percent increase on status of

teachers' loans since Secretary Briones assuemd
her cabinet post in 2016.

Apparently, such numbers speak of truth.

Teachers with big families have no choice but to
keep on renewing thir loans to make both ends
ANALYSIS meet. Sometimes, the only option left for them is to
make loans to provide their family's needs.
 .
POINT #2: Of all professions teachers have the
most personally shouldered expenses.
PROOFS:
a. Engineers and others have allowances for travels,
hotels, all materials for projects
b. teachers, despite chalk allowance spend personal
budgets on visual aids, ICT resources, professional
growth, trainings, education, etc.
c. Children's education, and related family expenses.
ANALYSIS.
 .

POINT # 3: Sec. Briones' directive to stop all

loans from private lending companies add
burden to teachers.
PROOF/S:
a. strict rules on DO 38 S. 2017 regulating
teacher's loans
b. teachers resort to 5-6 with 20% interest
per month (with statistics).
ANALYSIS
 .

POINT #4: Teachers overspending.

PROOFS:
a. luxurious lifestyle (with survey, stats.)
b. travels and vacations
c. gadgets, personal belongins (reference:
SALN)
 .

CONCLUSION (Recommended solutions)

a. Comprehensive fiancial literacy program
b. Salary increase.

columns sample.wps
 variety of column pieces

• national or regional issues

• local or school concerns
• global issues
• human interest issues
NOTE: Issues must be grounded and
connected to local experiences.
 sample national column

Basketbrawl
In hindsight, officials and cooler heads
STRONG should have seen it coming.
STATEMENT
After what amounted to destruction of
private property by the Australian national
basketball team when it unilaterally
removed floor decals at the Philippine
Arena court on the eve of its game with
POSITION the Philippines, and the response to it by
the host country’s top basketball officials,
it was clear that Gilas Pilipinas was diving
into the Fiba World Cup qualifying match
with inflamed passions.
 .

When a scuffle ensued at mid-court

even before the game started, the wick
POINT was lit.
It didn’t help that the game Monday
night at Bulacan’s cavernous Philippine
Arena provided the perfect environment
for a major explosion: An engaged home
crowd. An opponent that allegedly dished
out taunting trash talk dripping with racial
PROOF
undertones. A blowout game.
It was just a matter of time before the
“basketbrawl” of the third quarter would
happen.
 .
Philippine coach Chot Reyes justified the home
team’s behavior thus: “The reality is that [Daniel] Kickert
was hitting our players during the warm-ups. He hit Carl
Bryan Cruz, he hit Matthew Wright, [Roger] Pogoy, and
he hit Calvin Abueva during the warm-ups. We already
restrained the players before the game. We already told
them, ‘Huwag niyo nang pansinin,’ when Kickert did all of
PROOF those things at the start during the warm-ups. We already
told them to focus on the game.”
“The foul of Pogoy on Goulding was an offensive foul,
it was a basketball play,” Reyes added. “But (Kickert) was
the one who came in and decked Pogoy. That was the
fifth time. You don’t expect to do it to a team five times
and not expect us to retaliate. Unfortunately, that
triggered the entire brawl.
 .
Kickert’s unconscionable move on Pogoy is clear from
the footage; Chris Graham of the Australian media
outlet NewMatilda.com, for one, wrote that he is “calling
bulls—t on Australia claiming victim status” in the brawl.
Still, it could be said, too, that the response of the
home team, and the home crowd, went beyond bounds. It
wasn’t just the players that descended into fighting.
ANALYSIS Filipino fans also poured into the court and joined the fray,
with a group at one point ganging up on an Australian
player already prone on the ground. Chairs and other
dangerous objects flew around, along with unrestrained
punches, jabs and kicks. Where were the security
personnel? Why was there a complete breakdown in
basic crowd control and protocol?
 .
The shocking spectacle, broadcast around the
world, appeared to have chastened the protagonists
soon enough. Basketball Australia apologized for
POINT Kickert’s “unsavoury” behavior, admitted that its action
ripping off the home team’s decals was “not the
smartest move,” and said that it “deeply regret the
incident that occurred … and our role in it. We don’t
play the game in that spirit.”
Though some Gilas players initially heatedly
defended their actions in online posts, Philippine
officials and other players were soon offering their own
apologies, apparently realizing the magnitude of the
PROOF actions of the home team as both bearers of the flag
and hosts to the Australian delegation. Japeth Aguilar
sounded the most mature and professional tone,
acknowledging the larger implications of the incident,
which he said “could have been dealt with differently
 .
“In the heat of the moment, we just wanted to
defend our brother,” he wrote on Instagram. “I admit
that we acted on emotion rather than logic and this is
regrettable because the situation could have been
pacified and could have ended differently. There is no
ANALYSIS
excuse for how we responded. As national team
athletes, we are representing more than just ourselves
as we wear our uniforms” he said.
How we acted last night is not a just
representation of the Filipino people. For this, I’d like to
apologize to my fellow Filipinos, to the Australian team,
to their supporters and to basketball fans everywhere.
Hopefully, we can move forward with humility,
compassion and respect for one another”- Aguilar.
 ...

It may seem that Aguilar

could be the most mature among
the Gilas players. Maturity plays
conclusion
a big role to promote the true
spirit of 'sportsmanship' that
FIBA has been highlighting
through the years. (PDI July 5,
2018)
 more samples.

• Anti.docx
• Colonial time bombs.docx
 pointers.

• personal is political
• personal insights should be tested against
facts
• no such thing as “this is my opinion.”
• even opinions should be based on facts
not merely emotion
• column writing promotes diversity.
 discourse.

• the ability and power to connect seemingly

unrelated matters.
• Example:
-Duterte and Hitler
-Martial law and hair color policy
-heavy traffic and ants
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 works cited.

• Andrada Mykel, Ph.D. squeeze.ph.

• Rojas Xandra, slideshare.
• The coconut
• Philippine Daily Inquirer.
• Manila Standard.
 Thank you
for listening.