Journalist Atom Araullo is set to launch his first book, A View from the Ground, at the Manila International Book Fair on Sunday, September 14. Published by the University of the Philippines Press, the book is a collection of narrative journalism pieces and photographs from Araullo’s work with GMA Public Affairs and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
Having done documentaries and broadcast news for networks like GMA and ABS-CBN, Araullo continues to lean in to his strength in visual storytelling with his photography, curated and showcased in the book.
“The potential of still images in conveying a story and in holding a moment open was one of the motivations for me not only to write stories that will stand the test of time, but also to gather all of these stories to provide a snapshot of the Philippines at this moment when I was active as a journalist,” Araullo told Rolling Stone Philippines.
“Matagal na akong kumukuha ng mga litrato na wala pang malinaw na dahilan kung ano ang gagawin ko sa mga pictures na ‘yon, except to keep them on file.”
“If we are students of history, a lot of the things in our own experience came at the tail end of massive protests, national in nature and multi-sectoral.”
When asked if there were any photographs he had to leave out of the book, he said, “Marami. Kailangan hindi ka masyadong sentimental. Hindi naman ako ang nagdecide kung ano ‘yong mga litrato na lalabas.”
Artist and designer Karl Castro was hands-on in crafting the visuals for A View from the Ground, from designing its cover to selecting images for the book.
“On my end, pumili na ako ng mga tingin kong appropriate for the book, and then umasa ako sa kanyang sariling assessment at appreciation ng mga visuals,” Araullo said. “And then [Karl] selected the final set of photographs for the book. I’m so thankful that he was able to design [the book] in such a way that the photographs tell a story by themselves.”
Emotions and Righteous Anger
Araullo’s social media pages right now swing between promotional posts for the book launch and comments on the flood control controversy.
“Performative outrage mula sa mga trapo. Righteous anger mula sa mamamayan,” he said on X. “Gets ko ang panawagang huminahon. Pero mas naiintindihan ko ang galit nga mga matagal nang ginagago. Paulit-ulit na lang kasi ang palabas. Ang kinakatakutan lang nga mga nasa taas? ‘Yong ingay mula sa baba.”
Araullo touched on righteous anger again in our conversation when asked if the country was on the cusp of a third EDSA revolution. “It’s hard to tell at this moment. It remains to be seen,” he said. “I think a lot of people have expressed outrage over the blatant and outrageous corruption that’s being exposed at the moment. So certainly there’s one ingredient there, which is what I call the righteous anger of Filipinos. But I think it takes more than that to actually form an effective movement.”
He added that the people’s movement is crucial for long-lasting changes and reform in the country. “If we are students of history, a lot of the things in our own experience came at the tail end of massive protests, national in nature and multi-sectoral,” he noted.
Despite being a collection of his past work, A View from the Ground feels timely. After all, the injustices that Araullo’s reportage speaks truth to and the failure of the government’s flood control projects are all symptoms of the same chronic malady of corruption.
“In this book, we talk about the themes of displacement, disenfranchisement, literacy, wage slavery, and so on and so forth,” he told me. “Those phenomena happen because of the structural problems in Philippine society and society at large. One of those manifestations is the corruption in government and what philosophers would call bureaucrat capitalism, [where] people in government enrich themselves because of their position.”
If you want to move your readers, as a storyteller, you have to be moved yourself.
A View from the Ground thus works as a record for present and future generations to look through to see how much the country has or hasn’t progressed. Araullo admits he didn’t assume the book would have that value, but that he appreciated UP Press for seeing it when he submitted the manuscript.
“I’ll encourage other journalists to explore this kind of storytelling, this kind of reportage,” he said. “I’m quite privileged that I’m able to set aside some time to write and to put together this book. But there are a lot of fantastic, amazing storytellers and investigative journalists out there. And I hope that more people get into this space.”
Araullo also acknowledged the emotional toll that came with journalism. “It’s not easy to do this job day in and day out because of the emotional toll. But I think it comes with the territory. Like other professions, they have their own hazards.”
He added, “I think it’s important also to embrace the emotions as a storyteller, because the storyteller will never be unbiased. And I think that should be a superpower in and of itself, because if you want to move your readers, as a storyteller, you have to be moved yourself.”
He also said that journalists should allow themselves to feel emotions when working close to the ground; otherwise, they blunt the senses that tell them what matters to people. “It’s up to the readers what they make out of these stories, but I hope that it moves them to do something. If only to be more connected with the things that are going on around us. I think that’s already a win in my book.”
