Glenda took up journalism during the Marcos years. Revolutions and transitions have shaped her career and temperament as a journalist. She has worked for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Manila Times, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and for international news agencies. In the dying days of the Estrada administration, she co-founded Newsbreak, which started as a newsweekly.
From 2008 to January 2011, she managed ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel, as its chief operating officer. Glenda now manages the insanity of the Rappler newsroom while attempting to maintain her own sanity by reading, daydreaming, and traveling with her family.
She earned her journalism degree in 1985 at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. A British Chevening scholar, she holds a master’s degree in political sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (1999).
The books that she has authored include "Under the Crescent Moon: Rebellion in Mindanao," with Marites Dañguilan-Vitug, a groundbreaking book on the conflict in Mindanao that won the National Book Award. In 2011, she wrote "The Enemy Within: An Inside Story on Military Corruption," with Aries Rufo and Gemma Bagayaua-Mendoza.
In May 2018, Glenda finished her Nieman journalism fellowship at Harvard University.