Born Billie Mary Go, Betty Go-Belmonte traces her love for writing to her father, Go Puan Seng, whose libel case against a government official paved the way for the establishment of contemporary Philippine libel laws. When authoritarian censorship kept newspapers silent on extrajudicial killings, corruption, and general unrest during the Marcos administration, Go-Belmonte, a close friend of Martial Law hero Benigno Aquino’s wife Corazon Aquino, strived to tell stories that the Filipino people needed to know. Shortly after the Marcos administration ended, she founded The Philippine Star along with Max Soliven and Art Borjal in 1986 (“Betty Go-Belmonte: A Truthful Tradition”) and significantly chose the said publication’s slogan “The truth shall prevail” as testimony to her unwavering pursuit of the truth (Belmonte and Belmonte).

Later in life, she married present-day House Speaker of the Congress and former Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr.

References:
• Belmonte, Isaac and Miguel Belmonte. “25 truths you didn’t now about Betty Go-Belmonte”. Silver Anniversary Part I. The Philippine Star Silver Anniversary Special., 24 Jul. 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2012. <http://www.philstar.com/the-philippine-STAR-25th-anniversary/article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=86&articleId=709206>.
• “Betty Go-Belmonte: A Truthful Tradition”. Be Inspired. Go, Negosyo, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2012. <http://www.gonegosyo.info/content/view/129/3/>.

(Original image from Isaac G. Belmonte’s and Miguel G. Belmonte’s “25 truths you didn’t now about Betty Go-Belmonte”. Silver Anniversary Part I. The Philippine Star Silver Anniversary Special., 24 Jul. 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2012. <http://www.philstar.com/the-philippine-STAR-25th-anniversary/article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=86&articleId=709206>.)