JOSE 'Joe' Luna Castro, the late newspaper editor who led the rise of The Manila Times to the pinnacle of print journalism and is considered by many as the father of modern Philippines journalism, originally set out to be a Methodist pastor. As someone raised in Sta. Teresita Dos, one of the poorest barrios in then-feudal Lubao, Pampanga, even that modest ambition seemed out of reach for him. But Castro had a rare gift, and I will use his own words to describe it: one who can use words like a sledgehammer. He was trained at a theology school in preparation for pastorship, but soon enough, he was in front of a typewriter instead of a pulpit. He then got his master's degree at Syracuse University in New York, where another Joe — United States President Joe Biden — was trained in law. Syracuse had Methodist roots.

Had Castro opted for a life of preaching instead of a life of elegant writing and crisp, precise editing, his would not have been the only great loss to Philippine journalism. His brother-in-law Crispulo 'Jun' Icban Jr., one of the youngest editors to lead the Philippine Collegian — and there is no need to list his other achievements here — would not have joined the profession either. The Icbans, also from Lubao, were more steeped in the Methodist tradition than the Castros. In fact, one of the biggest Methodist churches in Pampanga, specifically in Apalit, is named for Crispulo Icban Sr., a Methodist pastor known for his intelligence and breadth of literacy. (It runs in the family; Joe's wife and Jun's sister was a professor of English literature at the University of the East.)