BULAKAN, Bulacan—Born with short fingers, Symbrachydactyly, a managing editor of a local newspaper and online media braced himself and conquered his fears to impart his knowledge and skills in lay-out design to student journalists on Wednesday.
Person With Disability (PWD), Anton Luis Reyes Catindig, a 2024 licensed Criminologist who uses InDesign lay-out program for his family’s NEWSCORE weekly newspaper and online platform in Bulacan inspired a group of sixty students of Bulacan State University (BulSU) Meneses Campus in harnessing their talents in newspaper lay-out design.
The nine years NEWSCORE lay-out artist ran a 30-minute two-paged video presentation of his actual lay-out processes where he later entertained questions from among the young writers.
BulSU Meneses Campus Coordinator Anna Marie Gonzales invited Catindig as part of NEWSCORE Team to conduct “Sprouting Journalism,” a seminar-workshop on Ethics, Duties and Responsibilities in journalism and Publication Procedure to further enhance the enthusiasm, knowledge and skills of the writers of Dambana, the student publication of BulSU Meneses Campus.
NEWSCORE Team is compose of its publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Carmela Reyes-Estrope also a Philippine Daily Inquirer Correspondent in Bulacan. Estrope is Catindig’s mother.
While Catindig wants to pursue a career path related to his being a licensed Criminologist, NEWSCORE requires his full attention and which he could not turn his back.
Catindig who finished his secondary education in Immaculate Concepcion School for Boys (ICSB) also studied Development Communication in UP Los Banos in 2008 to 2009.
“It is all about revision and ambition. I revised myself to be exemplified by my fellow PWD both here and abroad that we must not settle for less ambition and never allow our disabilities be a hindrance to what we want to achieve in life. There is a plethora of opportunities that PWDs can concatenate in order to achieve self-growth and excellence,” he said.
“I challenged myself to what degree I should be graduating and I had chosen BS Criminology to prove that people like me, who have Symbrachydactyly condition can become Registered Criminologist, as my condition did not limit me from responsible and careful firing and usage of gun with ease, as it is one of the major stuffs a Criminologist must learn or even master, and down to one of the core values of Criminology being a disciplined citizen with full adherence to the law of God and the law of the land.
I also go beyond the PWD community and also to those people who are experiencing hard times in their life, such as mental depression that, I even a PWD can do something monumental in life that will further lead to great things, and encourage all people to overcome any wretched condition and look beyond tomorrow,” he added.
Catindig showcased his ability in lay-out design and it was quite wonderful that he is such a talented lay-out artist despite his condition, says Genalyn Evangelista, Associate Editor of Dambana, the school publication of BulSU-Meneses Campus.
“That was the first time that I encountered personally a guest speaker who’s a PWD who have great talents. He even played a tutorial video of a basic layout of newspaper which he actually made for that day. He showed us that it’s not about the condition but it’s about the ability and dedication that we all need to be an expert and be better in terms of layout, and also that life lesson he impart to us can be used in our daily lives,” Evangelista added.
