Punchline
The PUNCH on its 57th year
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
BELIEVE it! Your SUNDAY PUNCH is already marking its 57th year of continued publication and service to Pangasinenses around the globe this month!
As I looked back in time appreciating how The PUNCH started and fared since 1956, I was simply awed by the names of journalists who left their marks on the paper’s pages over the decades, the names of Pangasinenses who made a difference for the province, including the political personalities who came, went and stayed, the police officials who distinguished themselves, the sportsmen who brought honors to the province, etc.
Browsing through decades of pages and reports of political, economic, social and cultural events could not but make me feel that The PUNCH has, indeed, written much of the province’s post-WW II history. For this singular feat, I cannot but feel humbled by this thought for small as we were, we found ourselves in the middle of it all, well connected with thousands of Pangasinsenses over a span that covered more than 5 decades, mostly through a hand-to-mouth existence until the 70s!
With pride in our hearts, we reiterate our sincerest gratitude and thanks to our kabaleyans, readers and advertisers, here and overseas, for their unstinting support. They continue to help shape and make The PUNCH.
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Unknown to many, with each presswork that passed weekly, the editors, reporters and columnists always felt a strong sense of accomplishment, of being true to the commitment made by our founder-editor Ermin Sr. in The PUNCH’s July 1956 maiden issue. Yes, behind the pages, the successful publication and distribution of each issue, lie the fervor and motivation to carry on and deliver more for our readers and the province.
We’ve had our share of brickbats from our detractors and we respect their differing and critical views of us. But these only added to our determination to keep on plodding through with whatever means we had at our disposal at anytime. One particular account that amused us no end was the tale concocted by the Lim administration to discredit us – the lie that The PUNCH is owned by Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez. It was obviously meant to belie our continuous exposes on the corruption and venalities inside the Dagupan City hall and to attribute our reports to serving Ms. Fernandez’s political agenda.
Now that the election is over, will the real owner of The PUNCH please stand? Oops sorry, but I still see myself standing alone.
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We realize that today’s generation really has no inkling of what The PUNCH was all about, how it started, and yes, who Ermin Garcia (Sr.) was.
Pangasinenses who’ve found themselves in Quezon City will readily tell you – Ermin Garcia is a street in Cubao! Who was he? Why was a street named after him? Only the baby boomers seem to remember.
Last month, a young man (whom I just met and who claimed he lives on that street) asked me initially if the “Ermin Garcia” was I. When I replied the name was my father’s, he asked: “What was he? A policeman?” I smiled and I realized nothing is really known or spoken about him in this day and age. After all, the street was named after him in 1966, and the young achiever wasn’t born till 30 years later.
After explaining to him that EG was the first community journalist in the country killed in the line of duty by a politician, he couldn’t understand why the big fuss when killing of journalists today appeared to be a regular occurrence. With scores of journalists already liquidated, he mused on my account.
I tried to impress upon him that there was a time when journalists, like senators, were “untouchables”. Nobody messed with them then, so the news of my father being shot in his office by a politician was just unheard of, at that time. My new acquaintance’s face and body language in reaction told me he still could not relate. Indeed, how then can one explain to someone who grew up in a period where killings happen around him with impunity and the notoriety earned by some media practitioners as AC-DC (Attack and collect, defend and collect) that, yes, journalists were once a respected lot?
Given the environment we live in today, I now doubt if another street will ever be named after another respected journalist who died in the line of duty. Tsk-tsk. The Chino Roces Ave. in Makati will likely be the last.
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Here’s a brief trivia about The PUNCH in 1956.
My father, Ermin Sr., was at the helm for 10 years, from July 15, 1956 until he was shot by a politician in May 20, 1966. My Uncle Gerry, who passed away last week, took over as editor for the next 12 years and returned in 1999 after the late Rhuey Baterna left for Australia. I took on management in 1968 and eventually assumed the editorship in 2005.
The PUNCH’s maiden issue was printed in 8.5″ x 11.5″ paper format using the letterpress. Its masthead was crudely designed by hand, and a copy was sold at P0.20. Annual subscription was offered at P10! It was meant to be known as the “pocket newspaper” since when folded it could fit in the backpocket of men’s pants. (Today, a semblance of that concept has arrived. News can now be read via smartphones and tablets that easily fit in pockets).
Notably, the first issue had many of the province’s “who’s who” at the time writing for the PUNCH. The list included Lt. Col. Job Mayo, PC provincial commander; Atty. Numeriano Tanopo Sr., College of Law dean of Orient Colleges; Victorino Daroya, past president of the Rotary Club of Dagupan and College of Commerce Dean of Dagupan Colleges; Rene “Wagwag” Lichauco; Leon O. Ty, Manila journalist; Toribio Jovellanos, Rotary Club of Dagupan, Romulo Villamil as columnist and Luz Aquino for the Society page. (We note that only Atty. Tanopo has survived them all).
Among the features was on Rufino Gabot, the first Pangasinan cycling hero to win the Tour of Luzon. (Today, Jess Garcia, another Pangasinense cycling great, is writing for The PUNCH).
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It’s interesting to note that nothing much has changed in the affairs of the community and in the country since 1956. Note the news then:
“Vices & Rackets in Pangasinan” about vice and crime rings operating in the province; “Local Private Schools” was a discussion on the state of private schools, the problems posed by diploma mills in the province; “The Church Should / Should Not Influence Elections” was a discussion on the role of the Catholic Church in politics; “3-Year Old Tot shot by Mother’s Cousin” was about a drunk 16-year old who pointed a gun at a family and shot a child in the family, and, “Lab Tests show Opium in PC Haul” – a report on the raid in two opium centers in Dagupan City.
We have not moved on to better times where we left off in 1956, have we?
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SOFTIE BELEN? Back to the present, the newly installed Fernandez administration is still grappling with the illegal fish pens, and I’m afraid it will find itself holding the short end of the stick when the August deadline is reached.
While the illegal fish pen operators are satisfied with the compromise agreement that allows them to recover their investments until August 31, the operators are evidently not taking Mayor Belen seriously. Proof of this is the continued disregard for that part of the compromise that requires them to demolish and remove their contraptions in the river. After harvesting, they simply turn around, laugh their way to their banks and abandon the structures without much ado. After pocketing their profits, they now expect Mayor Belen to pick up their trash and pay for it! Worse, a barangay official known to be a close ally of ex-Mayor BSL thinks she can continue to beat Mayor Belen in her game by harvesting and restocking new frys at night with no fear of any risk of being arrested!
By all appearances, nobody is afraid of Ms. Fernandez because she is viewed as a softie who seeks “amicable” settlements instead of strictly enforcing the law. They have been testing her and so far they believe they have been right about her. Are they?
So let’s see who will be sorrier than sorry by August 31! Mayor Belen? Or the unscrupulous illegal fish pen operators?
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