Welcome to Travel and Scandals.
I am a longtime journalist, currently living on the U.S. island of Guam in the Pacific.
When not chasing after news sources and stories (some earned professional awards and recognition), I explore places near and far or chill out by the beach.
I blog from time to time.
My current job is with the Guam-based Pacific Daily News, a part of the USA Today Network.
I used to be a reporter and assistant editor with Saipan Tribune and Marianas Variety, respectively, on Saipan, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Guam and the CNMI are U.S. island territories, along with American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
I broke the stories that led to some of the most interesting events in this part of the world, including the first and so far only impeachment of a U.S. territorial governor. I covered a $20 million U.S. military cleanup of some 40,000 tons of PCB-contaminated soil on Saipan, labor abuses, island politics, and impacts of decisions made thousands of miles in Washington, D.C., on island territories.
My exclusive 2016 sit-down interview with boxing legend Manny Pacquiao in his Makati mansion drew global reactions. His now infamous comment, “worse than animals,” was a response to my question on his views on same-sex marriage.
Pacquiao, at the time of the interview, was a member of the Philippines’ House of Representatives and was running for a senatorial seat. Weeks after his interview with me, he went on to become senator and said he’s not closing his door to a future presidential run. More on this in the “Scandals” section later.
For years, I was also a contributor for media organizations based in Fiji, in the South Pacific.
Most recently, I’ve covered Guam’s clergy sex abuse scandal that led the Vatican to convict the island’s archbishop of 30 years and forced the local archdiocese to seek bankruptcy protection, Guam politics, and reparations for Guam’s World War II survivors nearly 76 years after the war ended.
I was born in Manila, Philippines and grew up in different parts of the country because my father, now a retired Army captain, would bring the whole family with him wherever he was stationed. So moving from one place to another started during childhood, and traveling came naturally.
Check my blog every now and then for travel stories, and some scandals.
Haidee Eugenio Gilbert
