JOSE ‘Joe’ Antonio, the long-serving sports editor of People’s Journal, passed away on Wednesday night. He was 69.
His remains lie at the Diligence room of Loyola Commonwealth in Quezon City.
A proud son of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, Joe was passionate about sports growing up most especially with baseball and the Tour of Luzon cycling odyssey.
Dawn of a new career
He took up BA Marketing at the University of the East while juggling his time as a working student at Puyat Undergarments.
But Joe would be lured into sportswriting when he chanced upon an announcement inviting students to take an exam and join the Weekly Dawn while passing by one day at the office of the school’s official organ.
He honed his craft in UE's weekly organ where he later was promoted sports editor and eventually its managing editor.
A vacancy at the Times Journal launched Joe’s sportswriting career in 1976 under the late sports editor Gus Villanueva, and he spent the next 10 years with the newspaper covering various sports, from basketball, baseball, cycling, marathon, boxing, athletics, among others.
Joe briefly worked for Tempo and Manila Times in the post-Edsa era, before coming back home to the Journal family after being invited to serve initially as assistant sports editor of the widely-read People’s Journal tabloid.
In 1987, he officially became sports editor of the PJ sports section, which he turned into a can’t-miss reading habit behind its catchy headlines, superb layout, and easy-to-read stories.
Simple, down-to-earth, and a friend to everyone, Joe loves horseracing and was an avid fan of the late action king Fernando Poe Jr. who uses the pseudonym Daniel Barrion.
He was sports editor for 35 years until the time of his death.
Joe is survived by wife Lita Antonio, son Steve Ovett, daughter in-law Princess Anne, and grandchildren Anthony James and Andre Stephen.
Interment will be on Sunday at the Forest Pak Memorial in Quezon City.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph