HAVING A HAND IN HISTORY

Ala Paredes and the work of a courtroom sketch artist

For veejay, singer and daughter of musical icon and activist Jim Paredes, the best accomplishment is to gain recognition not for her face or her name, but for her work. At age 26, having just graduated at the Sydney Design Institute last month, Ala Paredes is now better known as the courtroom sketch artist for the trial of mayor and reputed warlord Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the world-infamous massacre of 57 people in the town that bears the mayor’s name in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009.