It’s about time to recognize the genius of Dennis Uy of Angeles City. He has become so relevant in this day and age. His crucial skills and vision will secure a better tomorow. The digital age. He is responsible for building digital infrastructure and high scale data center. He established one in the Barangay Pulung Maragul, Angeles City. He’s ramping and strengthening the backbone of internet connectivity even of underserved areas in our country. Oh, I wish Dennis was born earlier so it will make things for me and for the newspaper people of my generation.
Compared to when I started in the sixties, when there were no fax machines, celfones, iPads and laptops yet, being a beat reporter during this time is lot easier. Us we placed long distance calls to our newsroom and it takes long hours before it will reach the desk. I belong to the second generation of reporters from Pampanga and only me and Lino Sanchez Jr. remain standing. The third generation reporters the likes of Bong Lacson, Tonette Orejas, Perry Pangan, Lincoln, Noel Tulabut, Paulo Gee Santos, Albert Lacanlale and few more others are still very active.
Now I want to tell the story of the first generation reporters of Pampanga. They should have been alive today they will be amazed on the stride made in local journalism. My favorite among them wasn’t even my brother Greg who started as a reporter of the defunct Manila Chronicle in 1949 with Monching Mitra and Art Sampang as colleagues. My favorite was Armando P. Baluyut aka Arpiba father of Lincoln. Apong Mandong was a former policeman from Bacolor town. He resigned as a copper and started publishing the newsweekly The Voice with no staff except for Lincoln and of course with some help from me and Ram. The publication saw its birth in 1955. Initially, the newsweekly was a tiring one man job with him as editor-publisher, proof reader, advertising and circulation manager altogether. The life blood of the paper were the judicial notices which he shared with Luzon Courier which was published by the late Tomas San Pedro.
In those years, the most popular newspapermen in Pampanga were Silvestre Songco, Lino Sanchez Sr. , Tomas San Pedro, Macario Fabian, Hector Soto, Marcelino Pangilinan, Butch Maglaqui and my brother Greg. Newsmen based in Camp Olivas were the more popular and influential considering their proximity to and their state of rubbing elbows with the military top brass. It was also in those years when the Philippine Constabulary had four zones and Camp Olivas was the headquarter of the 1st PC Zone. The there were only few constabulary generals in the whole organization? Notable among those assigned in Camp Olivas were Generals Lucas Cauton, Rafael Ileto, Felizardo Tanabe, EmilioZerrudo, Tomas Diaz and Romeo Gatan among others.
I was publisher-editor of the newsweekly Pampanga Examiner and no staff. It was a one man job. It was that period when I was starting to learn the ropes, so to speak. The tabloid publishers like Baluyut, San Pedro’s Luzon Courier ( where Bren Z Guiao who became Pampanga governor started his writing career), Lino Sanchez Sr.’ Pampanga Tribune, Ram Mercado’s Star Reporter were displayed on most newsstands. Those were the interesting years. Only a handful of us. No hao siaos.
The local publishers like Apong Mandong and Tatang Tom had the unusual knack of knowing where to get financial support/advertising. Their invited columnists were the one espousing causes and undertaking individual crusades. In my case I was not contented being a correspondent of a national newspaper and one of Apong Mandong’s columnists. In between newspapering, I engaged myself in other ventures and became a radio commentator of the two radio stations in Angeles City, the Puyat owned DZAB and the DZYA, owned by the late Boss Danding Cojuangco.
Ram was my regular partner in covering the beat or whatever you may call it, and he has this to say of me in one of his writings. ‘ Max didn’t read the news in whatever accent, neither did he recite Pampango poetry. He was a hard hitting, thunder and lightning commentator.
Those years are gone. It’s now the time the genius of Dennis Uy keep changing the communication landscape.