Task
5. Read Me
There could be no
media today if there be no history at all. To
understand Philippine journalism, one has to look at the
light of the history.
Read the text about
the History of Journalism in the Philippines.
by Estormeo Gomez Serena
Spanish
Period
(1521-1900)
Journalism can be associated with the Doctrina
Cristiana which was reportedly published in the 17th century. It was
the first book to be printed in the country (Castro,1990). It was done by the
Chinese craftsmen under the direct supervision of the friars. But the first
newspaper in the Philippines was the SuccesosFelices,
someSucesos or Sucessos which means “Happy Events”, a 14-page newsletter by
Tomas Pinpin, a Filipino printer, in 1637.
On the other hand, Del Superior Goviernocame out on August 8, 1811 with more
regularity than its predecessors. It was considered by many historians that it
was the first Philippine newspaper because this had kept the peninsulars informed about the events
and the happenings in the Spanish Cortes and the was between Spain and France
and on local events. It folded up also after publishing 15 issues.
Magazines journalism also took place in the
Philippines when Royal Economic Society of the Friends of the Country published
RegistroMercantil de Manila on January 20, 1824.
If Del
Superior Govierno acquired the title as the first newspaper, La Esperanza (Hope) by Felipe Lacorte
and Evaristo Calderon got the title as first daily newspaper which appeared on
December 1, 1846 and lasted only for three years.
Revolutionary
Press
A slight
moment in the history of the Philippines in journalism was the rise of the
revolutionary press in the latter part of Spanish rule and the early part of
the American period, approximately 1890-1905 (Maslog, 1990).
La Solidaridad “The Solidarity” by the
first editor Graciano Lopez Jaena and the contributors who became the
revolutionary heroes of 1896 like Dr.
Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and Mariano Ponce which first came out
on February 19, 1989. It was published in Spain in Spanish
The paper was banned by the
Spanish authorities in the Philippines but it was smuggled into the country and
found its way into Filipino homes (Maslog, 1990).
Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y
Alonzo Realonda wrote Noli Me Tangere, 1887; and El Filibusterismo, 1891. The
two common revolutionary papers of Rizal caught the attention of the Spanish
government to execute him in Bagumbayan, now Rizal Park, on December 30, 1896.
American
Period
(1900-1946)
In this time, Thomas Gowan, an
Englishman, established the first English language daily. This was the first Manila Times in the Philippines existed
only 32 years until Alejandro Roces, Sr. As the newspaper chain owner bought
the paper in 1927. But Roces dissolved Times
in 1930 because he saw no need for two English papers.
Manila Bulletin, the oldest existing newspaper in the Philippines started in 1990 founded
by Carson Taylor, an American that widened its scope to include the news of
general interest recruiting staff members from among pupils of Thomasites. Judge
Kincaid and Mccullough Dick published the “Philippine Free Press” in 1908.
Philippines Herald, a pro-Filipino newspaper was published through the initiative of Manuel
L. Quezon, who latter became the President of the Philippines.
It
was not just in print media but also in radio and television. The two media came
to the Philippines by way of the United States.
The
first Philippine radio stations were set up by an American, Henry Hermann, in
June 1922. He put up three 50-watt radio stations in Manila and in the
neighboring city of Pasay (Maslog, 1990).
Post-War
Period
(1946-1972)
Manila Chronicles sprang up right after the war.
This paper was put up by a group of pre-war newspaper-men in 1945 and
was sold few years later to Eugenio Lopez, formerly the CEO of one of the
largest TV networks in the country.
Pre-Martial
Law Period
By 1968, there were
four giant multi-media combines and networks: ABS-CBN (Bolinao Electronics
Corporation, Chronicle Broadcasting, Monserrat Broadcasting) which has 20
stations in: Manila (6) and in Bacolod, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro Cebu, Cotabato,
Dagupan Davao, Iligan, Iloilo, Laoag, Legazpi, Lucena, Naga and Zamboanga
(Ofreneo, 1986).
ABC (Associated
Broadcasting Corporation):5 stations in: Manila (3), and in provinces of
Dagupan and Davao.
RMN (Radio Mindanao
Network) also give significance to the country with (8) in: Manila, and in
provinces of Baguio, Butuan, Cebu, Davao, Iligan and (2) in Cagayan de Oro.
MBC (Metropolitan
Broadcasting Corporation) with two
stations in Manilia and in provinces of Cebu, Dagupan, Laoag, Legazpi, Roxas
and Tacloban.
The big four radio stations helped in the dissemination of information
before the Martial Law.
Martial
Law Period
It was declared on
September 21, 1972. The following day, President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued
Letter of Instruction No. 1 ordering the Press Secretary and the Defense
Secretary “to take over and control the taking over and control of the mass
media for the duration of the national emergency, or until otherwise ordered by
the President or his duly designated representative.” (Ofreneo, 1986).
Some radio stations
were closed and under the armed forces of the government under the Proclamation
No. 1081. The heads of the big multi-media and print companies were imprisoned.
However, there were people who fought for the freedom of the people and freedom
of the press.
Radio Veritas and EDSA
In an article written by Isabel L. Templo, “This is Cardinal Sin speaking to the people of Metro Manila…. I am
calling our people to support our two good friends at the camp. If any of you
could be around at Camp Aguinaldo to show your solidarity and your support in
this very crucial period when our two good friends have shown their idealism, I
would be very happy…. Please come….”
For many Filipinos, this message from
the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, the archbishop of Manila, spoken over Church-owned Radio Veritas on February 22, 1986, was what started the People Power Revolution. Those who
heard this call responded by going to EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue) or
the Highway 54 and forming a human barricade between Camp Crame and Camp
Aguinaldo that swelled to hundreds of thousands. It was a show of force and
will in a moment of truth for a nation that wanted freedom from the 20-year
rule of then President Ferdinand E.
Marcos.
Sin’s “two good friends” were Fidel V. Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile—Vice-Chief of
Staff of the Armed Forces and Minister of National Defense, respectively—who
had held a press conference earlier that day to announce what many Filipinos
had suspected all along: that Marcos had not won in the February 7 snap
elections. The two officials declared they no longer recognized the Marcos
government and called on other ministers and military officers to align with
them.
Former Bandila news anchor Henry Omaga Diaz was a
Radio Veritas reporter in the 1980s, and one of only a handful of local
reporters at the press conference. His reporter’s instinct told him this would
be big. “Pag dating pa lang namin (As soon as we got there), somehow, I
got the feeling that this (was) the end for Marcos,” Diaz recalls. “(I) had
this feeling na ito na iyon (this was it).”
The existence of Catholic radio in the
Philippines is not surprising, given the population profile. Some 61.8 million
out of 76.3 million Filipinos—about 81 per cent —are Roman Catholic, according
to the 2000 Philippine Census. This was
even higher during the 1986 EDSA Revolution; Catholics comprised 50.2 million
(around 83 per cent) of 60.5 million Filipinos (National Statistics Office,
1990).
Catholic radio programming includes
Bible readings, discussions about Church teachings and live coverage of mass.
But Catholic radio also reports political developments. During the EDSA
Revolution, Church-owned Radio Veritas—and later, the clandestine radio station
“RadyoBandido” (“Outlaw Radio”)— played a pivotal role as an effective and
reliable source of news and information. According to We Forum: “Only Radio
Veritas was carrying a blow-by-blow account of the unfolding siege.”
Even when Marcos’ forces destroyed the
station’s P40-million transmitter, the broadcasts continued on Radyo Bandido.
Not only reports, but appeals for food and provisions and urgent calls for
people to block approaching tanks were aired on the radio. Ramos said it was
“the first time in military history that private broadcast media were used to
transmit or relay military orders or directives to military units in the field”
(Santiago, 1995). Fr. James B. Reuter, SJ (1989), head of the Catholic Church’s National
Office of Mass Media (NOMM), called
the EDSA Revolution “the first in the history of the world to be ‘run’ by
radio” (as cited by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation [RMAF], 1989)—not state-owned or even
commercial radio, but Catholic radio.” It was arguably Catholic radio’s finest
hour.
And yet, Radio Veritas was not a popular
radio station prior to EDSA . Of the 28 AM stations in Metro Manila in 1983,
which had an average listenership of 15 percent, the station’s audience share
was only 0.2 percent. But with the station’s coverage of the assassination of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino on August 21, 1983 more people started to tune
in. Radio Veritas’ audience share increased to nine percent in September that
year, to make it the fifth most listened-to of all radio stations, including
FM, in Metro Manila (Han, 1984).
Gaining confidence
Before the four days of EDSA,
Radio Veritas had been steadily gaining the confidence of the people by
reporting what state-controlled media could not. After all, veritas means truth, and that is what Radio
Veritas was committed to broadcast.
In 1983, when rumors of Aquino’s
return to the Philippines started circulating, Radio Veritas called him for a live
long-distance interview. Upon his arrival on August 21, Radio Veritas reporters
were stationed at the Manila International Airport. Minutes after Aquino was
shot, they were calling in the news from pay phones. Government-run media did
not report the assassination until hours later (RMAF, 1986). Radio Veritas was
also the only station that covered live Aquino’s funeral procession, which was
attended by millions (Maslog, 1998).
In a survey by Casal,
Centurion, and Gomez (1988) as stated by Templo, found that the public
perceived Radio Veritas’ role in the Edsa Revolution as consistent with the
station’s mission as a Church institution, promoting the gospel values of
truth, justice, freedom, and unity. The station did more than merely document
events; it participated in them. And it gave representatives from the Church,
the opposition, the “rebel” forces, and other sectors—all of whom would have
had no outlet otherwise—the opportunity to speak. It made its listeners aware
of their rights as well as their responsibilities even as it advocated
nonviolence and peace.
Radio Veritas’ role in the
Edsa Revolution did not go unnoticed. Among its many commendations were a
citation from then President Aquino, and the Catholic Mass Media Award for
Public Service. And in “using truth to depose an oppressive and corrupt regime
and restore Filipino faith in the electoral process,” the station received the
1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative
Communication Arts. For helping the Philippines regain its freedom, the
Church-owned radio station named for the truth had sealed its place in history.
News is censored in
an authoritarian society, rumors and gossips were proliferated because people
starved from information. During this time, there were no media acting as
“watchdog” of the government’s abuse, graft and corruption. Moreover, government
tries to hide the truth and succeeded at first but in a long run, the truth
comes out from other sources.
Modern
Period
For many years, media
give voice to many generations. With the advent of the technology, like
cellular phone, radio, telephone, photocopying machine and the like, people
nowadays demand the truth but nothing but the truth.
The use of technology
gives all citizens of the country as citizen journalists. They act as journalists
who take care of the society.
Online journalism is
famous nowadays. Bloggers, online writers, and other online journalists are now
taking part in social responsibility.
The evolution of
journalism in the Philippines from Spanish Period up to this Modern Period
shows how journalism gives value to information and democracy.
SOURCE: Quarter-1-Lesson-1-History-of-Journalism-Estormeo-Serena-EDITED
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