16th year anniversary: Sun.Star CDO in the new era of survival

Monday, June 27, 2011

LOOKING back 16 years ago today, I'd love to compare this paper's survival to a ragtag group of self-styled musicians that took much of my time then and, ehem, blissful energy.

From dusk till dawn, through shared joy and pain and, probably, all the ramifications that dried up the well of whatever left in my youth full of rock `n roll things. You know, the cool junkies and the like.

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Looking back, I can take it with no regrets and be proud of "the band with no name" that used to persevere virtually against all odds.

There's not even a single rehearsal I could remember or the usual "sipra" routine that's supposedly to be done concertedly and consistently. And even with the absence of one member, be the axe man or the frontman himself, the band can still play for the whole night--no matter what--or the "Vicky's show" must go on, ha ha ha.

There's not much difference with Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro family that win or lose, dead or alive and through thick and thin--would still manage to weather the storm or can ably stand against the acid test of time.

"Call it magic or just a mere coincidence. That we survive after all those years is now a mystery to me," snaps chief lensman Joey "Blueboy" Nacalaban once we were glued up till midnight at the newsroom with just one editor left to close practically all the pages.

"Heavily undermanned" or "very skeletal" are just among the teeth-gnashing adjectives that we've learned to undermine or must forcibly love to embrace from time to time.

The Bob Dylan's classic line "The times-a-changin'", perhaps, is inevitable and most applicable to all of SSCDO's editorial staff who would normally experience or become witness of transformation, albeit the changing of guards every now and then.

As the lone Tarrasch Knight in Sun.Star orbit since the paper's birth in the City of Gold in 1995, I developed a strange feeling of self-compassion. I hate to be always outside of the fence looking in.

So there's a tinge of sadness everytime we go down the roads remembering the brilliant Carlos "Caloy" Conde, the gentleman Uriel Quilinguing, the now deceased Miguel Rocha, the conservative Junhan Todi¤o, the unpredictable Vanessa Almeda, the genius-looking Stephen Capillas, the always vibrant Froilan Gallardo, the youthful Danilo Adorador III and the free-spirit Cris Diaz among the editors who come and go but with important contributions that now part of Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro's legacy.

Of course, who would ever forget madame Liezl Deloso, the production and marketing people, past and present.

As we celebrate our 16th Year Anniversary today as one of the leading local daily newspapers in the city, we can positively look at the bright side of the horizon: to persevere for more and work shoulder to shoulder along with the steady growth of Cagayan de Oro as a booming metropolis in this northern side of the country.

With our new general manager Emily G. Goyeneche and new editor-in-chief Terry D.C. Betonio--who are both oozing with youthful enthusiasm--the time-tested Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro seems more determined now to secure a special place in the midst of local community journalism.

For one, women's empowerment is vital to the paper's development and meteoric goal in the future. What with the troika of Annabelle L. Ricalde, Nicole J. Managbanag and the neophyte Hannah Mae S. Salugsugan reinforcing the newsroom with Louie S. Maliza as the only thorn among the roses in the reportorial ranks.
Super Balita, a Visayan tabloid published by Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro, has also the female tandem of Jenefer L. Besere as managing editor and Stephanie V. Berganio as reporter in running the show or making it possible the tabloid's regular publication.

As sports editor, who already has two siblings in college (thanks to FEU, Corpus Christi and the city's scholarship program, among others) plus two more in high school and still relishing the friendly atmosphere of Oro sports community, it's not difficult for me to figure out personally not to seek divorce in my chosen field of advocacy.

Yes, it's more of an advocacy than survival.

And I love to marry the place where I'm now for over a decade now--hopefully for a lifetime. Any argument?

"Ang importante lang gyod nga sama sa salida sa sine...dili lang kay isa permi ang bida. We have to balance our news insights especially in dealing with political stories," was the guiding principle of the ever-humble Clark Yu Go, SSCDO's president in the new era of survival and committed service to the reading public.