The Freeman on its 94th year

Congratulations to The Freeman on its 94th anniversary today, July 18, 2013. Founded in 1919 by lawyer Paulino Gullas, it is the first newspaper in Cebu and probably one of the oldest in the country. During the war and more than a decade after liberation publication was discontinued. However, in the early sixties, it was revived by Jose “Dodong” Gullas, the current chairman of the board of directors.

Presently, The Freeman is published daily as a joint venture with the Philippine Star of the Belmonte family. Its sister publication, Banat, uses Cebuano vernacular as medium of communication, and hits the streets also daily.

True to its commitment as a “fair and fearless” newspaper, TF continued publication during Martial Law and became the mouthpiece of anti-government columnists. In fact, there were moves to stifle their acidic commentaries and gag the editorial staff from printing negative reports. Actually, according to publisher Juanito Jabat, there were talks about their impending arrest, a move which was to include owner Jose R. Gullas. To the credit of Martial Law cohorts in Cebu, however, such threats did not materialize. Thus TF's advocacy for freedom and democracy went on even under an atmosphere of repression and control.

Today, TF has kept its reputation of fairness and fearlessness and is in the forefront in promoting press freedom. Proof of this is the managements' unswerving policy to give its writers and reporters complete freedom in crafting their materials for publication. Politics and vested interest have not affected the quality and tenor of the write-ups on its pages. This is evident in the multi-faceted views of its opinion writers with regard to the issues at hand. For example, while there are pro-administration writers there are also anti-establishment ones who at times hit hard on certain public personalities which at times resulted in the filing of libel charges.

I am making these observations from my own experience as an opinion writer for more than 10 years now. In all these years there have never been any moves, or even just insinuations, of how I should look at the issues and events for my write-ups. Credit for this is of course due to TF management led by Chairman Jose R. Gullas, President Miguel G. Belmonte and the editorial staff led by Jerry S. Tundag.

The mention of Chairman Jose Gullas reminds one of the great sacrifices involved in reviving TF after it hibernated for almost two decades. First, he had to get the nod of the heirs of his uncle Paulino Gullas. Next he had to spend a large amount of money for infrastructure, purchase of equipment, printing materials, salaries of personnel and other expense items.

As told by the Chairman himself, his father, Don Vicente Gullas, seeing the big efforts involved and the sacrifice it entailed, told him: “Dong, go easy about this project because once you start it there will be no turning back. Like a toothpaste, once you squeeze it out, you can't put it back.” Anybody else with lesser guts would have backed out. But with the Chairman's never-say-die mindset, he took the challenge, and now you have TF in your hands.

Through the years, there were challenges that threatened the paper's very existence. A major one happened when its editorial and technical staff staged a blitzkrieg mass walk-out in the early 1970s.But even this did not throw cold water on Chairman Gullas' determination to keep the printing machine running. Using a skeleton staff, he was able to put out an edition the very next day and on subsequent days proving to all and sundry that TF was (and is) here to stay. And presently in partnership with the Philippines Star, the TF has assumed a new vigor and vitality, and readership is steadily using.

Now it's The Freeman's 94th year of public service. Six years hence it will have its centennial. A big applause for Cebu's fair and fearless newspaper!