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ONLY before the turn of the new millenium, the general situation of the press in the country took its turn for the worse since the reported advertisers' boycott of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the "sell-out" of the then Gokongwei-owned The Manila Times which later on led to its "temporary" closure and the lay-off of its editors, staffmembers and other employees in the journalism industry critical of the present regime (led by publisher Ermin Garcia Jr. and editor in chief Ma. Lourdes Mangahas), and the subsequent purchase of the group led by the son of fugitive businessperson and presidential crony Mario Crespo a.k.a. Mark Jimenez of the said newspaper only two months ago from entrepreneur Reghis Romero II who first purchased it from the Gokongweis last July.
It would also turn out to be the "fourth death" of the country's oldest newspaper, The Manila Times, which stood witness to the many dark episodes of our country's history, from the American colonial period all the way to the martial law years, when it was inevitably closed down by dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and right after the press ressurected with the assumption of the Aquino regime towards the present era, when our country is in uncertain times with the empty promises of progress and improvement of our quality of life by President Estrada and his henchmen, amongst them Mark Jimenez.
When our country was commemorating the 103rd death anniversary of our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, some unscrupulous people did the most damning thing that would even qualify for a criminal act in simpler terms, under the guise of "business reorganization". Not even a few would imagine that things would turn into worse when Atty. Katrina Legarda quit as the publisher and editor in chief of The Manila Times and that opportunists who only care about their interests and that of the friends of President Estrada and the government per se would take over the operations of the paper which was kinda supposedly operated INDEPENDENTLY of the owners' pressure to the editorial department. But things went otherwise.
Atty. Legarda then cited three major reasons as to why she gave up her job in The Times:
1. The increasing pressure being incited to her and the central desk by the owners (Marcel Crespo, Willie Villarama, Eric Tagle, Pablo de Borja, and even Mark Jimenez himself) with regards to editorial policies and which story should get published and not. This is particularly evident in their handling of certain issues such as the dipping popularity of President Estrada in the recent Social Weather Stations survey,
2. The seemingly empty promise of the top management to her with regards to finances; and
3. The very unfair practice of offering employment contracts to people close to the management without even notifying Atty. Legarda in her capacity as the head of the editorial department and the members of the central desk. This is similar to the notorious practice of palakasan in offices, and worse, this is insulting to those affected by this practice. In this case, she and the other editors never knew that the management was already hiring Cipriano "Cip" Roxas, a pro-government apologist, and Adrian Cristobal, a former Marcos speechwriter and a columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, to join The Times team without their prior knowledge. This is similar to what happened to former Hudcc Chair Karina David last October.
After Atty. Legarda submitted her letter of resignation which effected a day after (Dec. 31, when all humanity and the world went gaga over the millenium celebrations in hope of a better life), the Mark Jimenez group led by a certain Marcel Crespo (incidentally the crook's son) who is the vice chair of the Strategic Publishing Inc., the compamny that publishes the paper, and Willie Villarama, the former vice governor of Bulacan and the prexy of the said company, went on to meet some of the members of the central desk supposedly to ask for the cooperation with the subliminal intent to make the central desk sacrifice the editorial independence which The Times upheld since time immemorial (thus disproving earlier fears that editorial independence would be given up by Atty. Legarda and her group, since their predecessors did uphold editorial integrity). Then by a sudden twist of fate, some of the editors were subjected to a loyalty check in which 10 members of the central desk were indirectly kicked out of the paper. The owners did a strategy for dismissing these editors: they gave them two choices: "Resign, or we'll fire you!" Naturally, given this pressure, the editors submitted their letters of resignation because they do not want to be intimidated further by the management na hindi naman nagpakita ng kahit na katiting na utang na loob sa kanila. But still, given this circumstance, wheter they chose to resign or they just waited to be fired by management, the fact remains that they were still dismissed/kicked out/terminated from the supposedly-noble journalism profession.
Among those who were fired from The Times are the following: (names and positions)
1. J. Raul Alibutud, Managing Editor
2. Bill Formoso, News Editor
3. Victor Montero, Associate Editor
4. Albert Lee, Senior Deskperson
5. Leti Boniol, Deskperson
6. Carlos Conde, Metro News Editor
7. Gilbert Cadiz, Young Page Editor (as of today, the Young Page section has also been wiped out by management and its puppet editors)
8. Cesar Barrioquinto, Business Editor
9. Ignacio Dee, Sports Editor
10. Alex Baluyut, Photo Editor
And now that management finally got rid of what they perceive as nuisances for their "effective" operation, they finally installed Roxas as the new editor in chief effective immediately and Cristobal as publisher effective Feb. 1, 2000.
As for the reporters and other staff, they will still be subjected to a loyalty check and evaluation in which those who were allied with the editors who upheld editorial integrity will surely be the next who will be placed on the chopping block.
Right now, while everything is in the thick of things for those who care about the already-undermined press freedom and freedom of self-expression, we should not just observe or say that we do not care about whatever is happening in The Times. For newspapers play a very vital role in our society: they help shape our country by reporting on the events be it good or bad and at the same time taking a stand on the current issues of the day which affect our nation and our well-being. But in The Times, things turned different what with the entry of Cip Roxas to effectively make it another Manila Bulletin and The Philippine Star, both which we know are administration mouthpieces. And this is what we see right now...
As the new millenium dawned upon us, let us Filipinos not forget the saying that one of our country's respected heroes, Marcelo H. del Pilar, the publisher of La Solidaridad, imparted: "Hindi nabubusalan ang katotohanan!!!" With the clearer picture that The Times is slowly drifting away from what it has stood up in the past until the not-so-distant past, its founder, Don Ramon Pardo Roces and Chino Roces, are surely turning from their graves. And surely, with what is happening to the country's supposedly most trusted newspaper, it will never be the same again, to quote the former chair of the board, Eduardo Roces, when he quit upon learning of the Jimenez group's take-over of ownership.
LET US BOYCOTT THE MANILA TIMES!!!!!
LET US BOYCOTT OTHER PRO-GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SUCH AS THE MANILA BULLETIN!!!LET US PRESERVE PRESS FREEDOM AND FREEDOM OF SELF-EXPRESSION!!!
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