He is one of my heroes. And my friends Mau, Tin, and Jing know this because they are the ones who endure my incessant raving about him. I always rave about whatever witty thing it was that he wrote for the day. Reading his column There's the Rub in The Philippine Daily Inquirer is already a part of my daily routine. I look forward to reading the papers because of his column. As a matter of fact, when I get a copy of PDI, I immediately turn it to the Opinion section.

And his pieces make me smile. It is pure intellectual stimulation. I just can not believe that such genius exists. There is just something about his writing style. If I did not know him, I would think the writer of the work is a young, dashing, spirited UP student. He does not write bull****. He writes what he knows. Honest. Uncensored. In your face. No matter who gets the rub. His opinion is sound and I agree with him on almost everything. He speaks with authority but not in a condescending way. He has ideals but his perspective is always pragmatic. And he can be funny too.

He is for me the exemplar of political journalism.