MANILA, Philippines?As usual, the guests came late. The party was set at 9 p.m., but at 10 p.m., they were still nowhere in sight.

The earliest to arrive, Belinda Cunanan, found hostess, Eggie Apostol, asleep on a couch. She was followed by Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc at 11, and Fe Zamora, who arrived with Montano sardines from Dipolog City. Waiting on the banquet table was a Peking duck sent by Juris Soliman, chief of staff of the First Gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo, and wine bottles from Titania?s Wine Cellars.

Potluck party

With myself and retired Lt. Gen. Thelmo Cunanan, it was a midnight potluck party for six to commemorate the Aug. 21, 1983, assassination of Benigno ?Ninoy? Aquino Jr. The get-together was also meant to celebrate the 25th year of Mr. & Ms Special Edition, the little black-and-white magazine that chronicled Aquino?s funeral and the outrage that followed his death.

A trip down memory lane was in order: Belinda fired off the first question: Why did you publish Mr. & Ms? ?Because nobody published the photos of Ninoy?s funeral,? Tita Eggie replied. The business aspect of it never crossed her mind. It was pure journalism, she added.

And how did Letty get into the picture? She answered, ?I went to her house and asked her to edit the magazine.? To elude the dictator?s piercing eyes, she put up a sign??LJM Garments??on the door of the magazine?s editorial office.

From the so-called ?mosquito press,? Mr. & Ms Special Edition (For Justice and Reconciliation), Jose Burgos? Malaya and Veritas magazine remain. They were on the frontlines of the struggle against the dictatorship.

At 1:30 a.m., we raised our glasses to toast Tita Eggie for her courage in publishing a magazine that gave the country a voice loud enough to help topple a dictator!

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Join the Mandy Navasero Laguna Loop Hands-On One-Day Photoworkshop on Sept. 6, and the Batanes Photo Safari on Dec. 26-29. E-mail mandynavasero@yahoo.com, or call 899-1767.