By TITO S. TALAO
In July 1982, along with a dozen other aspiring journalists, I welcomed the launch of Tempo, a sister publication of the Manila Bulletin (then known as Bulletin Today). I was assigned to the sports section with Raffy Japa and Rey Bancod under a no-nonsense sports editor named Rudy Navarro, whom everybody addressed in whispers as “Emperor.”
Clyde “James” Mariano joined us later on the sports beat, immediately taking charge of golf, the Philippine Olympic Committee, and the annual summer cycling extravaganza known as the Marlboro Tour.
Rey, Raffy and I divided among ourselves the major basketball beats – PBA, PABL, NCAA and UAAP – along with other national sporting events.
Carrying the slogan “News In A Flash” and focusing on police stories, entertainment and sports, Tempo, under the stewardship of founding editors Recah Trinidad, Ding Marcelo and Al Mendoza, quickly captured a significant share of the newspaper-reading public.
And backed by some of the era’s top opinion-makers – Ronnie Nathanielsz, Manny Piñol and Beth Celis, among them – Tempo Sports helped chronicle many of the biggest stories of the day.
For a 22-year-old undergraduate, those early years, and the decades that followed, became some of the most rewarding of my sportswriting career. I was fortunate to witness and cover the tailend of the legendary Crispa-Toyota rivalry, the glory years of Lydia de Vega and Elma Muros, the Robert Jaworski era, the emergence of collegiate basketball stars Allan Caidic, Alvin Patrimonio, Samboy Lim, Bong Alvarez and Benjie Paras, the countless heroics of Filipino athletes on the international stage, Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes, and the global rise of Manny Pacquiao.
The dream lasted 40 years before ending with retirement in 2022, following a once-in-a-lifetime experience: covering the XXXII Tokyo Olympic Games and writing the front-page banner story after Zamboanga-born weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz captured the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal after 98 years of participation.
A reporter for more than three decades, I became Tempo sports ed for a few months in 2017 before serving as Manila Bulletin sports editor until February of 2022.
When the gig ended, I reckoned it was time to move on, even if my heart was tugging at me to stay.
The separation lasted exactly four years.
In early 2026, MB senior news editor Isabel de Leon sent me what felt like a belated Christmas gift, texting to say that Manila Bulletin president Dr. Emil Yap III had given me the green light to revive my Last Shot column in Tempo.
Confirmation followed from MB executive editor Ed Bartilad, and later from Tempo sports ed Rey C. Lachica.
At first, I considered renaming the column Full Circle, believing it best captured how I felt. In the end, however, I chose to keep the original title – the one bestowed on me years ago by Rudy Navarro, my sports editor back then.
Fittingly, one of my first columns upon returning, published in March, paid tribute to the late former Philippine Star sports editor Lito Tacujan, a colleague at Tempo for a short while in 1986 and who tirelessly mentored me during my early years on the job and continued to do so long afterward.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to reconnect with former Marlboro Tour champions Renato Dolosa and Carlo Guieb and write about our shared memories. I have also written about MPTC Tour of Luzon CEO Arrey Perez’s plans for next summer’s race, PBA developments – including Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao’s lower back injury and Barangay Ginebra star Scottie Thompson’s fortitude – the Philracom Triple Crown series, former PSC chairman Butch Ramirez’s take on the tragic incident involving two student-athletes in Aurora, and the return of Jimmy Alapag.
The stories just keep coming.
As Tempo celebrates its 44th anniversary today, Last Shot salutes the men and women who have kept the fires burning, sustaining the passion and commitment ignited by the paper’s pioneers and ensuring that Tempo’s enduring flame continues to glow and shine.
