14 Facts About Chit Estella

Chit Estella-Simbulan was born in Quezon City to Elijio Edarad Chit Estella and Antonia Mapala Panganiban.

Chit Estella finished her primary and secondary schooling at St Joseph's College, and studied AB Journalism at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Chit Estella pursued graduate studies at the Open University of the University of the Philippines, with a Master in Public Management.

Chit Estella was married to Roland Simbulan, an author, professor and long-time advocate against nuclear power.

Chit Estella was studying journalism at the University of the Philippines during the beginnings of the Martial Law era.

Chit Estella wrote for the newspaper's current events section, and investigated events that exposed government suppression of truth, corruption, and human rights abuses.

Chit Estella wrote for several underground resistance press, such as the Balita ng Malayang Pilipinas, Taliba ng Bayan, and the Liberation, disguised under the nom de guerre "Ka Sandy".

Chit Estella later wrote articles for anti-dictatorship groups, such as the National Secretariat for Social Action of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.

Chit Estella was almost arrested on one occasion in 1982.

Chit Estella became a reporter for the Manila Evening Post and Tempo, before she joined Ang Pahayagang Malaya, an independent newspaper where she covered news at the Malacanan.

Chit Estella became managing editor of the Manila Times in the mid-1990s, and became editor-in-chief of Pinoy Times in 1999, a tabloid in Filipino notable for its criticisms of then President Joseph Estrada.

Chit Estella edited the Philippine Journalism Review, a publication for the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

Chit Estella's remains were subsequently cremated and interred at the San Agustin Church in Manila.

In 2024, the drivers of the two buses that collided with Chit Estella's taxi were convicted of homicide over her death and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.