EDITORIAL - Cebu keeps us going

The Freeman is 95 years old today. Quite frankly, celebrating the occasion, at least for us here, is somewhat tricky and rather confusing. Do we dwell on those remarkable 95 years that have established the paper as one of the truly great and enduring Cebu institutions? Or do we look to the next five and our first century?

Eventually it was decided to just celebrate the milestone for what it means at the moment. When it is time to mark our 100 years, we will worry about what to do when the time comes. For today, it is fitting to just be happy about what there is to be happy when you are 95.

And surely there is no dearth of reasons not to be happy and feel good about ourselves, not just for the blessings that come from working for such a great company and for such a great profession, but for the many years of excitement that come with the job of helping shape history.

The temptation is great, of course, to place great emphasis on the years traversed. But as we near that great threshold we call a century, it begins to dawn upon everyone here as well, this the great continuity that made everything -- this day in particular -- possible in a very poignant way.

This great continuity involves all those who have ever worked for this newspaper in whatever capacity -- from the owners whose support we drew much of our strength, to the journalists whose skills and dedication helped shape the character of the paper, to the production staff who sewed it all up neatly in one package.

To this point it had been one great continuum, an unending relay of contributions and responsibilities that, in spirit, had never been broken. From its founding in 1919 by Paulino Gullas to its revival in 1965 from a brief physical hiatus by nephew Dodong Gullas, to its partnership in 2004 with the Belmontes of Philstar.

And woven in between those significances were the contributions and responsibilities of the many who made journalism a proud career to be part of, and the chronicling of Cebu and its story such a wonderful and exhilarating ride.

As part of today's celebration, the question is asked: What keeps us going? There can of course be as many answers to that as there are people willing to put a finger on what makes them who they are and what makes their life worth living the way they want it.

We will not attempt to speak for all the millions of people who, together, make life such a wonderful gift to receive from God, and to share with others as well in the stories we tell and in the relationships we build around and with one another.

But for us at least, what keeps us going is Cebu. It could never be otherwise. The story of Cebu and its people is the only thing that sustains and nourishes us. For it is our story as well. Cebu's struggles and triumphs are our own too.

There is no setback in any of the multi-tiered governance or multi-layered community sectors of Cebu that does not pain us between every line of hurting narration, nor any cause for pride and glory that does not leap out of our pages in exultation. We are Cebu to the last fiber of the paper.

And so, for ourselves and for all of you, we dedicate this milestone to such a great place and such a great people. We thank everyone for such a wonderful time to be alive. What more wonderful reason can we ask than this for us to just keep on going.