By Leonardo Micua

 

WE motored to Manila last Wednesday to pay our last respect to our boss, Ermin F. Garcia Jr., who made THE Sunday PUNCH , the jewel in Pangasinan journalism, just as what his father, Ermin E. Garcia Sr., wished when he founded the paper in 1956.

We arrived at Sanctuario de San Antonio in Makati just in time for an arranged tribute by PUNCH staffers and others from Dagupan and Pangasinan.

His loved ones, especially his wife Pat and daughter Karina, warmly welcomed us and expressed gladness to see us make the trip despite the distance. Karina and one of Ermin’s sisters, Charisse, told me they know me by name through my column here. I was honored and at the same time quite flabbergasted.

We told them that we consider ourselves Ermin’s close family in Dagupan and feel orphaned with his passing. I think they were moved to tears by that statement.

The trip almost did not happen as some of us were reluctant to travel with the announced likely release of water from the San Roque Dam, which could mean renewed flooding in parts of Pangasinan. But our associate editor, Eva Visperas, would hear none of it. She admonished us, bursting with anger and appearing almost teary-eyed.

So we made the trip. Bahala na si Batman, someone wrote in the chat room. Our production manager Joy laughed out loud.

When we arrived at Ermin’s wake, we first spotted Senator Pia Cayetano. Then came retired Colonel Ariel Querubin. Most others in the room were friends, conferees and neighbors of Ermin and his family.

Our consulting editor Marifi described the neighborhood as “pinaka-sosyal na village sa buong Pilipinas.”

Some staffers of the Philippine Press Institute, where Ermin served once as an executive director, were also around and wanted answers from us on who would take over The PUNCH now that Ermin is gone.

The PUNCH is a member of good standing of the PPI family, which is why they are interested to know.

I told them that frankly, we don’t know yet the full picture moving forward. For now, the staff and I will do our best to put together the paper weekly, just as we did with Ermin’s constant guidance, until the paper’s corporate board finally makes a decision.

The PPI said they would not want The PUNCH, which it awarded as the best community newspaper in 2024, to be swept into the dust bins of history, like what happened to PPI’s other member, The Baguio Midland Courier.

We assured PPI – just as we promised Ermin – that with the support of the board, this will never happen. Ermin wanted the paper he loved so dearly to live on after he was gone.

As editor and mentor, Ermin impressed us on the fine points on how to make The Sunday PUNCH the newspaper of choice, from meeting deadlines, writing, editing, lay-outing, and even marketing.

Editorial discipline is a value that Sir Ermin pounded on us, which I believe sets us apart from other community newspapers in Pangasinan and elsewhere in the country. It has been key to why The PUNCH is now in its 69^th year, one of the longest surviving community newspapers in the country.

We definitely do not want to fail in carrying on with Sir Ermin’s legacy.

After we left Sanctuario, Eva received a text message from Atty. Gonzalo Duque, who writes the column “Out of the  Fire” in The PUNCH, said that he and his daughter, Pebbles were on the way to the venue to also pay their last respect to Ermin.

Gonzalo and Ermin had a weekly Podcast entitled “The Punching Duo”, and their last guest was Mayor Belen Fernandez. The Podcast was held at the Duque mansion in Barangay Tapuac and Pebbles is the Podcast director.

Their last episode together was in late May, and that was the last time Gonzalo and Pebbles saw Ermin alive. The following week, Ermin made his usual trip to Dagupan to oversee the paper’s production, and he sat at his office desk writing the editorial for that edition. Then he said he felt pretty tired and took a nap on the office sofa. After 30 minutes, he resumed writing his editorial.

That was his kind of deep devotion to The PUNCH.

Week after week, he shuttled from Manila to Dagupan to put to bed the pages of The PUNCH.

Rest In Peace, Sir Ermin. Your wish for The Sunday PUNCH is our command.

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