Jose ("Joe") Guevara (27 August 1917 – 2 December 2002) was a Filipino journalist, political commentator and art collector.[1][2][3] Guevara was born in Tanauan, Batangas and earned his pre-law and law degrees at University of Santo Tomas, and later earned a master's degree in journalism from the same university.[2] He began his career in journalism in 1938 as the editor-in-chief of The Varsitarian, the student newspaper at his university.[4] He briefly worked as an attorney in the law office of Jose P. Laurel, who was later president of the Philippines, before returning to journalism.[2]
From 1938 until his death in 2002, he wrote a popular political column titled "Point of View" for the Manila Bulletin, the Philippines' largest English-language daily newspaper.[5][4] He was also a contributor to the Manila Times.[6] On April 6, 1954, while reporting for the Manila Times at a legislative session, he introduced Imelda Romualdez to then-congressman Ferdinand Marcos, and a romance between the two developed rapidly.[7] Guevara was described as Marcos's "steady sidekick", and spent a lot of time with the couple, reporting on their relationship which received a lot of attention from society columnists. The couple were married 11 days later.[8] In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.[1]
Guevara and his wife Nene also collected Filipino art for decades, accumulating works by many well-known artists, including Fernando Amorsolo, Ang Kiukok, Vicente Manansala, Guillermo Tolentino, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Napoleon Abueva, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Botong Francisco, Eduardo Castrillo and Victorio Edades. Their extensive collection was auctioned off at the Léon Gallery in Makati in 2015.[3]