Matanglawin - Origin of The Name

Origin of The Name

The word or name Matanglawin contained negative connotations based from Philippine literary canon. The character of Cabesang Tales from Jose Rizal's novel El filibusterismo took the word as his moniker when he descended into terrorism and banditry after having been maltreated and denied justice by the Spanish colonial government. There were also characters in the plays of patriot playwrights Aurelio Tolentino and Onofre Pagsanghan representing the Filipinos who became bootlickers and lapdogs of the colonial masters named as such, characterized by their rapacity and brutality against fellow Filipinos.

The publication, however, offers a different explanation as to how the name defines its work by breaking down the word into three other words: "mata" (eye) for the student journalist's meticulous attention to detail, data, wordings and critical observation; "tanglaw" (illumination) for the writer's duty to explain difficult topics to the common reader while at the same time offering new insights; and "lawin" (hawk) for the tradition of courage in championing the cause of justice and the rights of the poor, though deviating from any ideological advocacy.