EDITORIAL

WRITING
MR. JOEMAR L. FURIGAY
Las Pinas City Science High School
 The
editorial the brain
page is…
of a
newspaper
Editorial present an
stories… opinion about or
stand on an issue
of national
concern
Editorial
stories… help shape
public
opinion
Editorial
stories… call the
public to
take action
 What 1. Criticize or attack
editorial
stories If you criticize, you must
do
have suggestions on how to
do the right thing. To launch
an attack against something
or somebody, you must be
impeccable in your change.
 What 2. Defend
editorial
stories Stand up for an individual
do
or an institution that is
under attack by somebody.
 What 3. Endorse
editorial
stories You must give solid reasons
do for your endorsement of a
political candidate, of a
proposal or any action on a
project or program.
 What
editorial 4. Instigate
stories
do This is done when you are
waging a crusade, say
against prostitution or
gambling.
EDITORIAL
BEGINNINGS
Emphatic statement or maxim
The death penalty law might be harsh, but
it is the law.
EDITORIAL
BEGINNINGS
A quotation
“You are to take life for life, eye for
eye, tooth for tooth, wound for wound,
bruise for bruise.” – Deuteronomy 19:23
EDITORIAL
BEGINNINGS
Narration
On February 5, 1999, the Philippines finally executed
convicted rapist Leo Echegaray after years of
deliberations and court motions. The majority of Filipinos
rejoiced in the swift implementation of justice. So it
seems the people’s will to crush the rising crime situation
has evolved into a massive circus of spectators out to
quench their thirst for retributive justice. Sounds familiar
to imperial Rome.
EDITORIAL
BEGINNINGS
An order
Death penalty is inhuman. Ax it!
EDITORIAL
BEGINNINGS
A question
The execution of convicted child rapist Leo Echegaray 17
years ago did nothing to abate the heat surrounding the
burning question: Is there a justification for killing a
human being when we know that it is morally wrong?
EDITORIAL
BEGINNINGS
Prophecy
If nothing is done against the death penalty law, we will
be awakened one day by a loud outcry over the wave of
bloodshed in our nation.
OTHER EXAMPLES OF
OPENING STATEMENTS
The capital punishment law has long been
dead! Why relive it? If the senators were to agree
to the resurrection of death penalty, they would
only turn the whole country into one big abattoir.
OTHER EXAMPLES OF
OPENING STATEMENTS
The rebirth of death penalty in the country will
teach the new generation a lesson: Take life and
yours will be taken away.
OTHER EXAMPLES OF
OPENING STATEMENTS
Like the proverbial tip of the iceberg,
something potential dangerous is lurking under
the new government.
 The Formula 1:
Editorial S- state the problem
Formula
P- position on the problem

E- evidence (at least 3) to support the

position

C- conclusion supporting the stand

S- solutions/suggestions
 The Formula 2:
Editorial I- introduction
Formula present the news peg and your stand

B- body should be supported by

1. proof 1 R- reasons
E- examples
2. proof 2 N- numbers
3. proof 3 N- names
S- senses

C- conclusion
present a solution, suggestion, recommendation
 The
Editorial
Formula

I
B
C EXAMPLE
 The public is frustrated with the criminal
1st par: justice system, and among the reasons is the
Introduction porousness of the nation’s detention facilities.
(stand) This became evident again last Sunday, when
13 inmates facing drug charges escaped before dawn
Present the from the detention facility of the Philippine Drug
newspeg Enforcement Agency at Camp Olivas in Pampanga,
and your home of the Philippine National Police regional office
in Central Luzon. (newspeg)
stand
 2nd par: As of late yesterday afternoon, six
Body of the escapees had returned to the
Proof 1 detention facility, with the rest likely to
turn themselves in as well. This was
(show why after the PNP and PDEA reportedly
the detention issued a shoot-to-kill order for the
facilities are escapees, most of whom are from
porous) Pampanga and Tarlac.
 Initial investigation showed that the
3rd par: inmates sawed off the grills of their cell and
Body escaped through a private subdivision at the
Proof 2 back of the police camp. How do inmates get
hold of a saw? Such mysteries are not unusual
(show why in the nation’s detention facilities. High-value
terrorists, kidnappers and drug traffickers have
the waltzed out of supposedly maximum security
detention detention even at the PNP headquarters at
facilities Camp Crame.
are porous)
 When inmates aren’t sawing off jail grills, their
4th par: cohorts are springing them from detention.
Body Communist rebels, Islamic separatists, the Abu
Sayyaf, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
Proof 3 and, more recently, the Islamic State-inspired Maute
group have raided government detention facilities
(show why and sprung their cohorts. Last month, about a

the hundred gunmen said to be linked to the Moro Islamic

Liberation Front swooped down on the North
detention Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan, killed a guard and
facilities freed over 150 inmates in what has been described as
are porous) the country’s biggest jailbreak.
 5th par: Authorities have cited overcrowded
Body jails as well as the insufficiency of
Proof 4 custodial personnel and security
equipment for the vulnerability of
(show why detention facilities to raids and escapes.
the Corruption is also a serious problem in
detention jails and national prisons.
facilities
are porous)
 6th par: These problems are not
Conclusion insurmountable and must be dealt with
decisively if the administration is
(present a genuinely concerned about keeping the
solution, public safe. Jailbreaks not only pose a
suggestion, threat to public safety but also mean a
recommen waste of time, effort and resources
dation) poured into the arrest of suspects.
 The Formula 3:
Editorial Head- present the problem or situation
Formula
Neck- take a stand

Body- reasons of your position

Arm 1- support your arguments with evidence

Arm 2- shut down the opposition

Leg 1- present a logical solution

Leg 2- recap your stance/ stand

 Intro:
The Present the
problem or

Editorial situation.

Formula Take a stand!

Opposing viewpoints are rebutted.

Reason #1 for position

Evidence for all 3 points.

Reason #2 for position

Reason #3 for position

Present Recap
a logical the staff
solution. stance.
 The
Editorial
Formula

I
B
C EXAMPLE
 The government released last week the
1st par: economic growth data for the third quarter of
Head 2013 and, as widely expected, the expansion of
the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP)
Present the was sustained at a respectable 7 percent. This
will make the Philippines one of the best
problem or performers in Asia for 2013. The announcement
situation was followed by the usual commentaries from
the government’s economic managers, who
seemed to downplay the impact on the
economy of the recent natural calamities,
particularly Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”
 It is perplexing how the government’s
2 par: economic managers claim that the impact on the
nd
Neck economy of Yolanda—and the 7.2-magnitude
earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu in October—
will be “minimal.”
Take a
stand
 Private economists are agreed that much of
3 rd par: the typhoon’s impact will be felt in the fourth
Body quarter, although they are quick to add that
reconstruction activities—if massively
implemented—could lift GDP in 2014. Some
Reasons foreign and local economists have in fact scaled
of your down their growth projections for the Philippines
for the fourth quarter to input the impact of the
position damage wrought by the typhoon.
 For instance, Bank of the Philippine Islands
4th par: economist Jun Neri said GDP growth could ease to 5.5
Arm 1 percent in the fourth quarter due to the effects of
Yolanda. “We expect the slowdown to be sustained
through the first quarter of 2014, before regaining
Support momentum again by the second quarter of 2014 as
your the bulk of the reconstruction efforts will start to kick
in by then,” Neri said. He added that while growth
arguments could return to above 7 percent by the second half,
with full-year 2014 growth could slow down to 6.1 percent.
Furthermore, HSBC economist Trinh Nguyen said GDP
evidence growth would likely slow to 5.1 percent this fourth
quarter and to 5.8 percent in 2014.
 Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said that
5 th par: despite the typhoon, the country was strong enough to
cope with the disasters. “This solid growth
Arm 2 demonstrates the continuing resilience of the economy
in the face of global economic challenges and natural
calamities,” he said. (opposition) But Economic Planning
Shut Secretary Arsenio Balisacan admitted in his latest talk with

down the
reporters that the destruction caused by Yolanda would
have a big effect on the economy. “It’s quite substantial,”
opposition he was quoted as saying. He also noted that the ravaged
parts of Eastern Samar, Panay and Central Visayas were
contributing as much as 12 percent to the country’s overall
economic growth, and that the typhoon could cut fourth-
quarter GDP growth by between 0.3 and 0.8 percent.
(Shut down)
 Officials cannot downplay the devastation in
6th par: Eastern Visayas as having a minimal effect on the entire
economy. The economic impact of the devastation on the
Leg 1 total GDP may not be that significant, percentage-wise,
but the impact on human life and property is tremendous.
Present a The international donor community has said so.
Economist Nguyen aptly described the situation thus:
logical “The government estimates that the direct damage

solution/ amounts to P24.5 billion, mostly agriculture losses, but

about three million people are likely to have lost their jobs,
deeper so the indirect economic losses, if unaddressed, are likely
to be more severe. A lot of infrastructure in the stricken
analysis Eastern Visayas region (farm-to-market roads, fishing boat
landing sites, irrigation) was damaged or destroyed.”
 The death toll from the monster typhoon
7 th par: has breached the 5,000 mark and is still rising.
Leg 2 Latest estimates on the financial requirements
to rebuild from the devastation have also
topped P130 billion. From whatever angle one
Recap looks at the numbers, these are not
your “minimal.”

stance or
stand
 General Structure
Lead should have an objective explanation of the
issue
➢Include the five W's and the H.

➢Pull in facts and quotations from the sources which

are relevant.

➢Additional research may be necessary.

 General Structure
Lead should have an objective explanation of the issue
Example:
Forty days after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” wreaked havoc in the
Visayas, the national government presented the Reconstruction
Assistance on Yolanda, or RAY, framework, a “strategic plan to guide the
recovery and reconstruction of the economy, lives, and livelihoods in the
affected areas.” It is a laudable effort, emerging from core principles
“based on lessons from previous disasters in the Philippines and other
countries.” But in at least two aspects, the plan—and by extension the
administration that prepared it—still has important lessons to learn.
 General Structure
Better if present the opposition first.
➢As the writer you disagree with these viewpoints.
Identify the people, specifically those who oppose you.

➢Use facts and quotations to state objectively their

opinions.

➢Give the strongest position of the opposition. You gain

nothing in refuting a weak position.
 General Structure
Better if present the opposition first.
Example
The spree started a week after Communications
Secretary Sonny Coloma downplayed international criticism
of the killing of journalists in the Philippines. At one point, he
said that if the 32 media-worker victims in the 2009 massacre in
Ampatuan, Maguindanao, were removed from the list of
journalists killed, because the massacre was a special case, then
the problem wouldn’t be as serious. “Hindi naman ganun
kaseryoso o kalala yung problemang yun (That problem won’t be
as serious or as bad),” he told reporters.
 General Structure
Refute directly the opposition's beliefs.
➢Pull in other facts and quotations from people
who support your position.

➢Concede a valid point of the opposition which

will make you appear rational, one who has
considered all the options.
 General Structure
Refute directly the opposition's beliefs.
Example
In a special report that was run last month, to mark the fourth anniversary
of the Maguindanao massacre, PCIJ noted that “during Aquino’s first 40 months in
office, from July 2010 to October 2013, at least 23 journalists were killed, among
them 16 radio broadcasters and seven print journalists. It is a trail of blood redder,
thicker, and worse compared to the number of work-related media murders per
year under four other presidents before him …”
And in a statement issued the other day, the NUJP lambasted the
administration for essentially doing nothing to stop the killings. “This government,
which came to power on the promise of justice and human rights and ‘daang
matuwid’ (a straight path) chooses not only to downplay the enormity of the
problem but denigrates the victims by deigning to dismiss some of them as ‘not
legitimate’.”
 General Structure
Give Other, Original Reasons/Analogies
➢In defense of your position, give reasons from strong
to strongest order.

➢Use a literary or cultural allusion that lends to your

credibility and perceived intelligence.
 General Structure
Give Other, Original Reasons/Analogies
Example (On the appointment of Sen. Lacson as “rehabilitation czar”)
But a case can be made that, in fact, Lacson is the right man for the
job because of three significant considerations.
First, at a time when public attention is focused on the abuses of
the congressional pork barrel and other lump-sum funds in the national
budget, Lacson is one of the few politicians to escape with his reputation
unstained by any allegation of pork abuse or corruption. Throughout his
12 years in the Senate, he had declined the use of his allocations. The
massive amount of money that will either be at his disposal or will be
coursed through him would be a cause for concern with almost any other
politician-appointee. That won’t be the case with him.
 General Structure
Give Other, Original Reasons/Analogies
Example (On the appointment of Sen. Lacson as “rehabilitation czar”)
Second, Lacson knows what it is to run, not only a national
organization (he was President Joseph Estrada’s second appointee as
chief of the Philippine National Police), but a military-like agency.
Rehabilitation work in Eastern Visayas will likely require a command
structure that he will be familiar with.
Third, he is a politician of national stature. In the nitty-gritty of
rehabilitation work, conflict with regional, provincial and local officials will
be inevitable. Coupled with his close political alliance with the President,
Lacson will have the necessary credibility to deal with all stakeholders in
the process.
 General Structure
Give Other, Original Reasons/Analogies
Examples of using literary or cultural allusion
Beginning paragraph :
In Greek myth, a tragedy is misfortune that cannot be
avoided; it is fate becoming real. In contemporary reality,
however, the word means the complete opposite: It is a crisis,
a calamity, a catastrophe, that did not have to happen.
Concluding paragraph:
Like the Fates of Greek myth, they will have our lives in
their hands again.
 General Structure
Give Other, Original Reasons/Analogies
Examples of using literary or cultural allusion
THE Filipino people have always been indulgent
about the private sins and peccadilloes of their
leaders. It is, for most of us, part of our easy-going
Catholicism. Let him who has not sinned cast the first
stone, Jesus dared the righteously angry Jews, and like
the people who ended up dropping their stones, many
of us feel that an official’s marital infidelities are a
matter best left up to the man, his wife, and God to
sort out.
 General Structure
• Conclude with some punch.
➢Give solutions to the problem or challenge the reader to be
informed.
Example
If there is a single word or concept that can summarize
the most important lessons we can learn from the natural and
manmade calamities of 2013, it might be vigilance. We need
to keep careful watch for possible danger or difficulty, whether
that danger or difficulty comes from a changing climate or
unchanging human nature.
 General Structure
Conclude with some punch.
➢A quotation can be effective, especially if from a respected
source.
Example
It can only be hoped that Walker’s sterling example will
inspire others with his means and fame to do good things for
people in need, even those a world away. “We lost one of the
good ones,” Dorfman said. “But he’s left a lasting legacy.”
The Philippines will remember him.
 General Structure
• Conclude with some punch.
➢A rhetorical question can be an effective concluder as well.
Example
Perhaps there is one thing the senators can do to redeem
the image of the upper chamber: to quit belaboring the
insubstantial, such as the effect of their two colleagues’
inelegant behavior on their collective delicate sensibilities, and
begin looking instead at the substance of the charges laid out on
the Senate floor. Never mind womanizer. But is it true, as
Santiago says, that they have in their midst a smuggler,
plunderer, tax evader and human rights violator?
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Proverb
Savage sentences ought to be deplored. But there is only
one safe rule to follow when travelling abroad. When in
Rome, do as the Romans do.
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Quotations
A book by Dennise and Ching Ping Bloodworth offers us an insight into
the ways of statecraft. We think this quotation from the book a timely
reminder:“…A country or a party should form a vertical ‘united front’ with
enemies who can be liquidated later, in order to be able to destroy the
enemy who must be liquidated now.”
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Advice
We must always be on the guard against these lawless
elements.
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Comparison
Other countries were able to save their forests by buying
our exported logs. For a few thousand dollars, we are
practically selling them the environs of future
generations of Filipinos.
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Contrast
Societal reforms cannot, indeed, make headway if more
privileges are piled up for a few while the great majority
of the population become mere onlookers.
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Crusading
Get out and vote!
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Argumentative
We, therefore, urge the police, the local governments, the BAI, and the
courts to crack down hard on dog thieves. In the old American West, horse
thieves are lynched. We are not advocating the same punishment for dog
thieves but they should be treated as criminals, not as mere pranksters. If
we don’t, our moral values will certainly go to the dogs.
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Formal and the standard form
We hope it is not too late. It is about time the
proper steps were taken.
EDITORIAL
ENDINGS
Conclusion
With these improvement programs, the people of
Manila and suburbs are assured of good water
supply and efficient service.
TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE
AN EDITORIAL STORY
1. Know the issue very well.
2. Limit your article to only one aspect of your chosen subject.
3. Know your purpose.
4. Use sufficient data to support your argument.
TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE
AN EDITORIAL STORY
5. Write a catchy and interesting introduction.
6. Use sound and logical reasoning.
7. Give significant and factual details to bolster your opinion.
8. Give statistics, if possible.
9. Attribute sources.
TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE
AN EDITORIAL STORY
10. Use formal language in presenting opinion.
11. When giving an argument, start from the most significant.
12. Be authoritative, but do not preach.
13. Feel free to use emotion, but in a limited manner.
14. Be impersonal.
15.Be brief.
16.Tie up your ending with that of the beginning.