Ethel Soliven Timbol (born Ethelinda Villaflor Soliven; 22 January 1940 – September 6, 2020) was a Filipina journalist and lifestyle editor of the ''

Manila Bulletin The ''Manila Bulletin'' () (also known as the ''Bulletin'' and previously known as the ''Manila Daily Bulletin'' from 1906 to September 23, 1972, and the ''Bulletin Today'' from November 22, 1972, to March 10, 1986) is the Philippines' largest ...

'', published in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. She was the ninth child of

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

Benito Soliven and Pelagia Villaflor Soliven. She was the youngest sister of journalist Maximo V. Soliven. She finished High School at St. Theresa's College in Manila. After two years of college at St. Theresa's, she left to study at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York, U.S.A. on a Knights of Columbus scholarship. She majored in English and Child Psychology. Timbol joined the Manila Bulletin in 1960, handling the police beat at the Western Police District, which at that time included then patrolman, and later Manila Mayor

Alfredo Lim Alfredo "Fred" Siojo Lim (; December 21, 1929 – August 8, 2020) was a Filipino politician, police officer and lawyer who served as a Senate of the Philippines, Senator of the Philippines from 2004 to 2007, He also served as the 20th Mayor of ...

. Aside from her reportorial beat, she was tapped to edit the Youth section, "The Page for the Young at Heart." She has also been assigned to the beats covering the Department of Education, Trade and Industry, and the Commission on Elections, often meriting front-page stories in the tumultuous '60s and '70s. In 1976, she was appointed editor of the "Life & Leisure" and "Sunday Leisure" sections of the same newspaper. Apart from her editorial duties, she was a respected columnist, writing the twice weekly society column "Pacesetters," and the once weekly "Consumers' Observation Post," a consumer advocacy column, which she started with Deedee Sytangco. In 1991, she received a special citation from the Manila Rotary Club for her consumer advocacy work. She was a

cancer survivor A cancer survivor is a person with cancer of any type who is still living. Whether a person becomes a survivor at the time of diagnosis or after completing treatment, whether people who are actively dying are considered survivors, and whether ...

, recovering from

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

. She retired from the Manila Bulletin on December 31, 2007, after 47 years of service. On September 6 2020, she died at St. Luke's Hospital in BGC. She was 80 years old.

Quotes

When asked about ''the difference between young people today and young people before,'' she replied: "The young people before called me Ethel, today they call me Ma'am." "I always mean what I say when I say it. That may change later."

Trivia

She is the widely acknowledged "Dean of Philippine Lifestyle Editors." The original caricature for her Pacesetters column included a cigarette in a long stemmed holder. When she stopped smoking in 1995, she asked that the cigarette be removed from the caricature. The Life and Leisure and Sunday Leisure sections of Timbol generated the most advertising revenue for the Manila Bulletin.

References

1940 births 2020 deaths Filipino journalists Manila Bulletin people University of Mount Saint Vincent alumni {{philippines-journalist-stub