‘ATOM ARAULLO’S ORIGIN STORY’
Dito nagsimula ang lahat.
Balikan natin ang pinakaunang pagharap sa kamera ni @atomaraullo sa 5 and Up noong February 1994. Mula sa isang tahimik na bata, tunghayan kung paano nahubog ang kanyang tinig, hanggang sa maging isa sa mga pinaka-iconic na mamamahayag sa kanyang henerasyon.
Para kay Atom, ang karanasang ito ang naging pundasyon ng kanyang landas sa media.
✨ Ang mga nakalipas nating mga karanasan ang bumubuo sa kung sino tayo ngayon. ✨
Suportahan ang mahahalagang kuwentong hatid ng Probe. Imbitahan ang tatlo mong kaibigan na sundan ang aming mga social media page:
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#AtomAraullo
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Pahabol sa 2016 nostalgia. Sitting around today, I realized, I really HAD a year. I traveled a bit, had some excruciatingly good experiences, spent time with unforgettable people, grew, stumbled, and took some photos along the way.
It was, without a doubt, a year. And it’s bittersweet to see how far we’ve come.
Here’s to looking back at 2026, ten years from now, with the same kind of fondness.
——
Salamat, @esquireph and Explore Philippines for the phowtoes!
Atom Araullo just turned 43—can you believe it?—and weeks before he did, SPOT sat down with the award-winning broadcast journalist and held his hand in a "taking stock" session of sorts. "I feel like I’m more patient, and less anxious about work. In fact parang feeling ko mas okay pa 'ko now in my 40s than in my 20s and 30s," he said. "It’s a nice age to be in." He's also still doing what he loves best: telling the stories of the Filipino experience one documentary at a time. He's even immortalized some of these stories recently in another medium: books. So in this edition of #SpotWeekender, @atomaraullo not only gets to look back on his life (we also asked his mother to chime in), his jock slash bulakbol years, and his favorite coverages, but also about the writing that went into this latest feather in his already feather-filled cap. Link in bio for the full story.
Words by Jerome Gomez @jeromegomezmnl
Photographs by JL Javier @jljavier
Cover design by Warren Espejo @warrning
In this story, Atom Araullo was photographed in @archivo1984
Journalist Atom Araullo’s first book, “A View from the Ground,” is a collection of narrative journalism pieces and photographs from Araullo’s work with GMA Public Affairs and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
“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.”
#RSPH #RollingStonePH
I saw this young mother fighting hard to shield her newborn baby from the rain at the Tacloban airport 10 years ago. This was probably on the 4th or or 5th day after Typhoon Yolanda made landfall. People were desperate to leave the utterly devastated city. I later learned that the two made is safely to Manila.
Dalawang bagay ang pumapasok sa isip ko ngayong ika-10 anibersaryo ng bagyo. Una, shet ang bilis ng oras. Pangalawa, may konting pangamba. Ang bilis din kasi natin makalimot eh. Ready na kayo tayo sakaling mangyari uli ito? Sana, pero sa totoo lang hindi ako sigurado.
Varanasi, India (2014). One of the oldest cities in the world, situated along the banks of the sacred Ganges River. And yes, the sunset glowed a striking red, probably because of the haze.
We arrived at a squat, concrete house a little past midnight. A solitary palmera grew in a planter against the outside wall, while a jumble of rubber flip-flops surrounded the main door, two pairs conspicuously tiny. A few blocks away, a barking dog protested the hour.
The agents entered without knocking.
Meet the people fighting Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC), a rising transnational crime with the Philippines at the epicenter. Link in bio.
This shelter in Cebu is one of just a few in the country that caters specifically to Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) cases. The specialization is helpful because of the unique burden of survivors. A staggering 41% of traffickers are the biological parents of the victim, while 42% are other relatives.
I met some of these children in the shelter, and was truly astonished by their determination to heal and pursue justice.
A Love Remains. Link in bio.
