Ninez Cacho-Olivares, who was one of an extraordinary cadre of newswomen who faced down the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s when most of their male colleagues allowed themselves to be cowed or co-opted — but who later unexpectedly turned around and supported President Rodrigo Duterte in his crackdown on independent journalists — died on Jan. 3. She was 78.

Her family said the cause was a heart attack, coming after a long struggle with cancer. The family statement did not say where she died.

The emergence of the courageous, mostly young female journalists who criticized Mr. Marcos was a remarkable phenomenon in the history of Philippine journalism and political opposition. Several of those women, including Ms. Cacho-Olivares, were interrogated and warned by the military.

While working as a television newsreader, Ms. Cacho-Olivares telegraphed her skepticism when reading government propaganda by smirking and rolling her eyes, until the palace told her editors that she had to stop.