Veteran journalist and Manila Bulletin and Tempo columnist Nestor DG Cuartero has been appointed as a member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), effective immediately, Malacañang announced on Dec. 2.
Cuartero is a long-time editor at the Bulletin Publishing Corporation, where he served for 36 consecutive years. He was the first entertainment editor of Tempo, Manila Bulletin’s English tabloid.
A graduate of Journalism at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Cuartero has built a distinguished career as a writer, editor, lecturer, and weekend farmer.
He has won several awards in journalism and has written three books of his own—At Large, At Leisure, PH Movie Confidential, and Easy Listening—as well as several others in collaboration with fellow writers.
He is also a three-time recipient of the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards SALUTE from Philippines Graphic in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Cuartero began his journalism journey in the 1970s as editor of UST’s student paper, The Varsitarian. He later worked in broadcast media at KBS Public Affairs before shifting to print with Mr. & Ms. Magazine.
He has continued writing as a columnist for Manila Bulletin and Tempo since his retirement as editor in 2018.
His career is decorated with numerous awards, among them the Grand Prize in Primer Premio de Periodismo given by Instituto Cervantes in 2000, First Prize in the 2007 LaSallian Scholarum Awards for coverage of youth and education issues, and the 2010 Binhi Awards’ Environment Journalist of the Year from the Philippine Agricultural Journalists.
For over two decades, Cuartero also taught Journalism at UST’s Faculty of Arts and Letters, where he once served as program coordinator. (Robert Requintina)
