Christian Esguerra

Esguerra graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at the University of Santo Tomas in 2000. He finished his master's degree in Theology, major in Social Pastoral Communication, at the same university in 2011.

Esguerra started his career in journalism as a reporter for the Philippine Daily Inquirer from 2000 to 2015. In 2006, he was a journalism fellow at Seoul National University. In 2008, he was a research fellow at the University of San Francisco. In 2015, he left the Inquirer to join ABS-CBN's roster as a news correspondent and news anchor. He was the anchor and managing editor of ANC's Early Edition from 2018 to 2021, and the same for the hard-hitting political talk show After the Fact from 2020 to 2022. Currently, Esguerra hosts the streaming political podcast Facts First. A vocal critic of disinformation and political pressure on journalists and mainstream journalism media, Esguerra is also a trustee of the Journalism Studies Association of the Philippines (JSAP).

On 30 March 2022, Esguerra announced via Twitter the termination of After the Fact, citing the "prevailing political climate" as the reason for ending the program. Commenters on Esguerra's tweet saw the show's termination as a capitulation by ABS-CBN's executives to pressure from the Rodrigo Duterte government. In 2020, ABS-CBN's franchise was not renewed by the Rodrigo Duterte government-leaning supermajority in the Philippine Congress, which forced the main terrestrial channel to go off-air.{{Cite web |title=No-nonsense talk show After the Fact off air due to 'prevailing political climate' |url=https://ph.news.yahoo.com/anc-after-the-fact-host-announces-show-termination-due-to-political-climate-032223306.html |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=ph.news.yahoo.com |language=en-PH}}{{Cite web |date=2022-03-30 |title=Christian Esguerra did not pull any punches in the farewell episode of ANC's After the Fact. Worth a watch. |url=http://www.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/ts872v/christian_esguerra_did_not_pull_any_punches_in/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=r/Philippines}}{{Cite web |date=2022-03-31 |title=Show ni Christian Esguerra sa ANC, sinibak nga ba dahil sa politika? |url=https://balita.net.ph/2022/03/31/show-ni-christian-esguerra-sa-anc-sinibak-nga-ba-dahil-sa-politika/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=Balita – Tagalog Newspaper Tabloid |language=en-US}} Election lawyer Emil Marañon lamented ABS-CBN's "dropping" of Esguerra, saying Esguerra is "one of the best journalists in the country who dare ask the hard questions," writing further that "his brand of journalism is what gives ABS-CBN the credibility it enjoys." Marañon further noted that this was a "bad call."{{Cite web |date=2022-03-31 |title=Why drop him: Emil Marañon defends Christian Esguerra |url=https://abogado.com.ph/why-drop-him-emil-maranon-defends-christian-esguerra/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |language=en-US}}

After After the Fact came to an end, Esguerra shifted his focus to Facts First with Christian Esguerra, a program where he dives into the most important political issues in the Philippines. He regularly sits down with key figures like former Presidential Adviser Ronald Llamas, former Senator Antonio Trillanes, economist Cielo Magno, and others from the political and academic world. His interviews stand out for their depth and thoughtfulness, with Esguerra’s style often praised for bringing out meaningful, candid responses from his guests.

• Gawad Dr. Pio Valenzuela for Excellence in Journalism, City of Valenzuela, 2019
• Titus Brandsma Award for Emergent Leadership in Journalism, 2019
• Award of Distinction – Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), 2019
• Marshall McLuhan Fellowship, 2020

• Esguerra, C.V. (2020). "How strongmen influence digital narratives in the age of COVID-19: The case of Rodrigo Duterte," In Challenges of Communication in the Digital Age. College of Social Culture and Media, Torun. (Book chapter)
• Esguerra, C.V. (2019). "The role of the Catholic Church in Philippine independence and democracy." In Catholics and Independence: Opportunities and Threats. College of Social Culture and Media, Torun. (Book chapter)
• Bernardo, P. X. J. C., Lechuga, T. S., & Esguerra, C. V. (2019). “Ethical dilemmas of Filipino reporters during the 2016 Philippine presidential campaign trail: A phenomenology.” Journal of Media and Communication Research 11(3), 23–40.

Esguerra married Naomi Bernardo, a doctor, on July 24, 2021.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-18 |title=#WERealWeddings: Our Road to I Do – |url=https://weddingessentials.ph/2021/08/18/our-road-to-i-do/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/factsfirstlive Facts First Live on YouTube]
• [https://open.spotify.com/show/5JKIWvKlNso6hvnV4NrAa7 Facts First Podcast on Spotify]
• [https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/facts-first-with-christian-esguerra/id1617619142 Facts First Podcast on Apple]
• [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbaLl2xCXotxwcNXI5GM-wQ/videos Christian Esguerra on YouTube]
• [https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/byline/christian-v-esguerra Christian Esguerra Archives | Philippine Daily Inquirer News]
• [https://verafiles.org/topic/christian-esguerra Christian Esguerra Archives | VERA Files]
• [https://cmfr-phil.org/tag/christian-esguerra/ Christian Esguerra Archives | CMFR]

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Category:Living people

Category:Filipino podcasters

Category:ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs people

Category:Filipino television news anchors

Category:University of Santo Tomas alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Filipino YouTubers