Maximo V. Soliven

"The youth of the land learned a lesson in civics and citizenship from the barrel of the gun and the tip of the bayonet that could never be picked up in the classroom. I can only salute them with admiration and wonder."

At the age of 27, in 1960, Maximo Soliven was already Publisher and Editor of the now-defunct The Evening News, which rose in 1960 from sixth to second highest in daily circulation in the country.

Today Soliven is publisher and Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Philippine Star, and also chairman, publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Eastgate International, which publishes 'Mabuhay', the in-flight magazine of Philippine Airlines.

He was the founding Publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

"Meek and cowed." These are qualities Soliven believes should not belong to journalists who are the messengers of truth to the people.

Many must agree with him as he has been presented with many awards including three 'Journalist of the Year' awards from the National Press Club and later from the Manila Rotary Club. He received the Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Opinion Writer in 1985. He was also given the OZANAM Award, the highest award given by the Ateneo de Manila University, where he graduated.

With his work as a correspondent taking him around the globe, Soliven has received awards from other countries. He was decorated in 1991 by French President Francois Mitterrand, as chevalier (knight) of the National Order of Merit of the French Republic. In 2000, Soliven received one of Spain's most coveted decorations, the 'Incomienda de la Orden Isabel la Catolica' from His Majesty King Juan Carlos.

Soliven has a Masters degree in Communications and Political Philosophy from Fordham University, New York. He also took up graduate courses at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the John Hopkins University in pursuit of a Ph.D. and the Harvard School of International Studies.

Sources: Press Club Golden Jubilarians (B.S. thesis prepared by students of Miriam College) Biographical Sketch of Maximo V. Soliven

His Works

Spending more than 12 years as a foreign correspondent, Soliven has traveled to many places around the world during times of trouble, putting his own life at risk.

He has covered the Vietnam War, including the 1968 "Tet" Offensive, the "Gestapu" Coup in Indonesia in 1965 where almost half a million people were massacred, the detonation of the first atom bomb in the People's Republic of China where he also interviewed Premier Zhon en lai on the matter. In 1968 he did a series on the riots in Mexico City.

He has witnessed the fighting in Cambodia and Laos, Southeast Asia in general, Japan, the Middle East and Western Europe (from his bureau office in Bonn, West Germany.) He has seen the hard times and struggles of various nations, and once returning to his homeland found himself a part of a new struggle.

When the late President Marcos declared martial law in 1972, Soliven was one of the first arrested at 2 o'clock in the morning. He was subsequently jailed by Ferdinand Marcos and assigned cellmate of Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., the opposition leader. After his release, he was banned from writing for seven years.

He described the press as "our last best hope", for providing a breaking mechanism against a bad government. He and seven others followed this when they established The Philippine Daily Inquirer, another leading newspaper, to fight the Marcos dictatorship in 1985.