TODAY PANAY News is celebrating with its 41st anniversary this political season. Interestingly, the birth of this paper on April 7, 1981 coincided with a political season. The nation watched with bated breath the events that were unfolding following President Ferdinand Marcos’ lifting kuno of Martial Law.
Due to international pressure, Marcos laid the groundwork for a supposedly clean and honest election without giving up his post. He declared himself a candidate. A war veteran and retired military officer, the late Alejo Santos, accepted the challenge. But this failed to give a semblance of legitimacy to the election.
This year, as expected in politics Philippine-style, loyalties shift, alliances break and old friendships rekindle. Panay News has been a witness to, and has been steadfastly chronicling political and economic changes for four decades. It has seen huge political cataclysms dislodge seemingly invincible powers like Marcos and Estrada, and the consequences of such power shifts in the local scene.
These political changes, however, have not stopped Panay News from delivering genuine news and truthful information that matter to the public. In the age of fake news, this is very important, and we take this role very seriously.
But there’s more twist this year – actually these past two years. There’s a pandemic, making our work more challenging. But we have not been deterred. In fact, this only gives us more resolve and motivation to expand the frontiers of press freedom in this part of the world. We will continue to do our share to serve public interest.
We are happy that we have surmounted whatever stumbling blocks usual to the trade – the coronavirus pandemic, financial crunches, critics, also, mostly those whose feathers we have ruffled in the name of public service. But these challenges – we’ve lost count of them – failed to stymie the indomitable spirit behind Panay News’ ascent to become an exponent of press freedom in this part of the Philippines.
To paraphrase a line from Ernest Henley’s Invictus, “the menace of the years shall find us unafraid.”
