"GUS"

By Antonio M. Reyes

I first met Agustin “Gus” Arnaiz in the printed pages of his newspaper The reporter which was given to me by his son Jani who was kind enough to introduce me to media practitioners in Southern Leyte. The year was 1999 and I had not yet decided whether to publish my own weekly newspaper here.
I met Gus again a few months later at a reception hosted by Governor Rosette Yniguez Lerias where I asked him what it was like to be a newspaper publisher.
He said: “There was never a dull moment!” and he was living proof of its vibrancy for he had just turned 75 but was as lucid and potent as a 30 year old man. I decided right there and then to join the Fourth Estate and to publish the Southern Leyte Times - the rest is history.
Gus was one of a kind and was the only journalist I know who was jailed 4 times for criticizing President Ferdinand Marcos during martial law. He never went to college and only completed second year high school, but he was well read, and smarter than most college graduates that I knew.
Gus also had charisma and could light up any gathering by just being there. I also believe he was the only man in the province who wore his mustache as though he was born with it.
Yet like most achievers, Gus also had his vices. He liked women, but what honest to goodness men do not? And like most writers, he loved to drink, and could probably have drank a youthful Winston Churchill under the table.
I doubt if I’ll ever meet another Gus Arnaiz in my life time, but I am sure I have become a better journalist for having known him.

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