THE WINGS OF BAGWIS

Armed with borrowed Nikon F2, “Bagwis” spread his wings in the school of life and taught himself the art of photography. He further enriched his skills in photography by reading borrowed books from friends and relatives and asking professional photographers for their tips in shooting pictures and covering events.
Born on July 1957 in Quezon Province, Leo Esclanda earned his pseudo name “Bagwis” when his colleagues who happened to see him inside the police station and was being questioned by Manila police, exclaimed one by one, as they passed by: “Uy si Bagwis un” (Hey, its Bagwis). He was a lone photojournalist of BAGWIS, a weekly newspaper during the dark days of Martial Law. BAGWIS was an underground newspaper which tackled government corruption, human rights violations and stories of people’s movement. Bagwis is also associated with the national democratic mass movement. His name is synonymous to pictures of New People’s Army, Communist Party of the Philippines and its allied underground revolutionary organizations in their quest for justice. From then on, everybody who worked closely to Leo be it in line with photojournalism or an activist he met in the streets or during rally, fondly called him Bagwis.
Self-taught Esclanda was not hindered by scarcity of books in the libraries. He rummaged also the collections of his relatives and friends. He later honed his dogmatic book learnings by joining Philippine Collegian, school organ of the University of the Philippines. He challenged his skill and perfected it by covering different beats and found rallies and demonstration not just a test of skill but a stint of his political conscience. For Bagwis, street is his school and his experience is his teacher. Schools of photography during their time were few and only the rich can afford it. Unlike today, basic photography and photojournalism are included in school curriculum.
Indeed, as a saying goes, experience is the best teacher. Bagwis deepened his understanding in photography when he became involved in labor union in 1980s, when the country is still under the control of the Marcoses and its cronies. His pictures of the various workers’ rallies, strikes and boycotts made him realized that photography can be a vehicle of change; his camera, a tool to expose the evils of Marcos regime and oppose its inhumane governance. His camera became his weapon to fight social evils and the people's issues his driving force.
Bagwis also learned not just to point and shoot, but he also learned patience in the dark room. Photographers in the 80’s were obliged to go back to their office to process their negatives. Or they would asked their friends from government agencies to used their dark rooms to save time. Processing negatives were meticulous and tedious, Esclanda quipped, but with digital cameras today, in a matter of seconds, photographers can easily evaluate his photos and wire it to the net automatically. Photographers today are now save from the risk of miscalculating time in processing their negatives. They can easily change their pictures without worrying that it might be “under” or “over” developed pictures.
After the fall of Ferdinand Marcos, journalism flourished as a sign of free and democratic country. Businessmen published different newspapers and magazines. Bagwis then became a stringer for Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) now Reuter in which he befriended the late Willy Vicoy and Mr. Alex Baluyot who worked also for AP. He sought also their expertise and skills so as to enhance his own abilities. He also became photo correspondent of the defunct Midweek magazine which gave him more challenging events to cover.
When asked about the difference between the old timer photojournalists and the new timers, Bagwis said that there is not much difference between the two. The style and the content of the photos are more of the same during those days and today. The difference is only in form. However, he warned that new breed photojournalists are easy prey for corruption in the industry. Many young photographers wanted more money and involved less in social cause. Some are even lazy and not even a risk-taker.
Furthermore, Esclanda believes that photojournalism will continue to live and flourish in our country and in the world. Photography is still a viable field of journalism. Photos are unspoken words. They have the power to move people. The great thing that is happening with Philippine photojournalism is that it is shifting its gear- evolving in a new form, new style and new dynamics. It continuously moving and evolving medium of communication and it has weathered and seasoned that it withstood its existence. As we can see, photos are now posted in the internet.
Esclanda is now the photo-editor for Pinoy Weekly, a weekly alternative newspaper. And true to its name, Bagwis is still spreading his wings and soaring high.