Established four months after the declaration of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898, The Manila Times—founded by Englishman Thomas Gowan—has grown from a two-sheet, four-page, 12 by eight inches paper to become Asia’s most widely read and most authoritative daily during its heyday, and to its present resurgence among the country’s dailies.
Aptly, as chronicler of the nation’s events since its first issue, the history of The Times reflects the history of the modern Philippine republic.
Burgeoning during this auspicious period under the helm of father-and-son tandem, Dr. Dante Arevalo Ang and his eldest and namesake Dante “Klink” Ang 2nd, the grand celebration of the publication’s 120th year almost month ago was truly a milestone.
And yet as the younger Ang, who is The Manila Times Publishing Inc. President and CEO, confidently predicted in front of the editorial and management staff, and guests and supporters during the Advertisers’ Night on October 24 at Conrad Manila, “the best is yet to come” for the newspaper trusted by Filipinos for over a century.
In full force to welcome well-wishers at the anniversary party were COO Blanca Mercado, Publisher-Editor Nerilyn Tenorio, Vice President for Finance Evelyn Fauni, Finance Head Ma. Cristina Ambas, Circulation Director Vicente Cruz, Marketing Communications and Services Director Denise Calnea, Advertising Director Roda Zabat, and Lifestyle, Entertainment and The Sunday Times Magazine Editor Tessa Mauricio-Arriola.
The man behind a national treasure
Acknowledging new and long time friends of The Manila Times, Mauricio-Arriola had the singular privilege of heralding the highlight of the evening’s program—that is to introduce The Times President and CEO who is devotedly pursuing the Ang family’s commitment to revive the former glory of this historic paper.
“For those of you coming for the first time to celebrate our anniversary, allow me to take this opportunity to properly introduce you to the man behind the publication you have come to trust,” she began.
“When Dr. Dante Arevalo Ang, now our Chairman Emeritus, took over the reins of The Manila Times in 2001, all he was able to acquire was its legacy and prominence as the Philippines’ oldest newspaper, thereby rendering the phrase ‘starting from scratch’ an understatement.
“But true to his pledge to serve the public with accurate and relevant information, DAA, as we fondly call him, committed not just himself but his family in rebuilding The Manila Times. He knew that by doing so, he would ensure the kind of passion and dedication needed to pursue such a difficult yet noble endeavor of reviving what is veritably a national treasure.
“From the onset, he recruited his eldest son and namesake Dante ‘Klink’ Ang 2nd―a scholar and journalism graduate from Texas’ A&M University and a Master’s Degree holder in Business Administration―to play an active part in the company.
“By then, the younger Ang had already secured a diverse knowhow in publishing, marketing and media, having worked as a reporter at the Tulsa Tribune in Oklahoma, USA; as Vice President for Marketing of a monthly OFW publication in Italy, also owned by the Angs; and as Foreign Information Officer at the Philippine Consulate in Toronto.
and her team with Lifestyle Editor Tessa Mauricio-Arriola and the paper’s Marketing executives.
“Initially appointed as Executive Vice President of The Manila Times, DFA2, as we fondly call him in turn, was tasked to steer the paper’s rebranding and editorial thrust in line with his father’s vision and valuable guidance.
“As the company’s President and CEO for the last 12 years, Mr. Ang has effectively infused modern management styles and editorial innovations in the paper, turning it from strength to strength to this, its 120th anniversary.
“Evidently like his father, he will stop at nothing until this living legacy — now beloved to his family more than ever — regains its rightful place of glory.
“‘The best is yet to come,’ he always says, and to tell you just how we will continue to get there, it is my honor to present to you The Manila Times President and CEO, Dante ‘Klink’ Ang 2nd,” The Times’ Lifestyle and Entertainment editor concluded to rousing applause.
And thus began Ang’s best address yet.
Must-read broadsheet
[The Times President and CEO’s message in full].
Members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome and good evening.
October 11 of this year marked the 120th founding anniversary of The Manila Times. Truth be told, it has not been an easy journey. The business climate in 1898, when The Times began publication, was far from ideal. As our forefathers fought for independence, the fledgling paper struggled to survive in a market dominated by Spanish-language newspapers and publications published in the local vernacular that were no doubt inspired by the revolution.
Over the years, The Times had to cease publication for extended periods twice, but as fate would have it, this scrappy paper always came back to life. The first time the paper closed was in the mid-1930s. The Times was brought back at the end of World War 2 to be the flagship English paper of the Roces family media empire known then as TVT. The first “T” referred to The Manila Times, the “V” for the Spanish paper La Vanguardia (where my great grandfather was an employee), and the last “T” for the Filipino tabloid Taliba.
When Martial Law was declared in 1972, The Times was padlocked by the government then. After the first Edsa Revolution, another branch of the Roces family tried to revive the paper but with little success. The paper survived but changed ownership a few times, until our Chairman Dante A. Ang took over in August of 2001.
Our chairman’s mandate to me and the other managers was “… to restore the old glory of The Manila Times.” It was not an easy order to follow. Somehow, with grit and audacity, we managed to steer The Times away from the brink of yet another closure, to become the must-read broadsheet in the country today.
Now, 17 years after our group took over, The Times is strong and getting stronger. We rank solo at No. 4 nationwide, but we have already breached the Top 3 in some markets in the country.
For some time now, we have been known for our Opinion section. Thanks to our columnists, The Manila Times is No. 1 in Opinion today.
As you all know, however, the advances in technology pose a new threat to The Times. In fact, technology is disrupting many industries. Social media and the Internet at large offer new channels of information that many readers have used as substitutes for conventional media
Many ask us whether The Times will survive, and my answer is always a resounding “yes” because of three reasons. First, newspapers have a 500-year history of survival. Newspapers have weathered wave after wave of innovation in communication, such as the development of radio, television and computers. Granted, newspaper brands of old have disappeared, but new ones always emerge. I doubt that Facebook or Twitter or any social media platform today will survive 100 years, much less half a century.
Second, the concept of our business is evolving as well. A generation ago, ask a publisher what his or her business is, and that person will point to a physical paper. Today, many publishers will answer that our business is content. That product continues to satisfy the need to know and understand events even as content becomes digital in this new Age.
That brings me to my third and last reason why I’m supremely confident that newspapers will survive, and that is, we have embraced change.
Today, The Times is read by millions of people here and around the world. Of course, we have a paper edition distributed nationwide. Millions more read The Times on our website which we have just redesigned. Instead of fighting social media, The Times, like all other papers today, have become major players on social media. Half a million people follow The Times on Facebook, plus tens of thousands more on Twitter, Instagram, and Viber among other social media platforms. And I’m proud to point out that our followers grew organically.
Related to changes, we are launching today two new innovations of The Times.
First, we are proud to announce the launching of our new mobile app, The Manila Times Correspondent, which was developed by Cormant Technologies. With this app, citizen journalists can file stories and other content to our paper. Most of the contributions through this mobile app will land on our website, and those stories and photos that make it to our print edition will be compensated the same rate we pay our regular contributors. With the mid-term elections next year, we expect citizen journalists to enrich and enhance our political coverage with this new app.
Last but not least, we are also launching The Manila Times 500. That is the name and concept championed by our Managing Editor, Mr. Felipe Salvosa, who was inspired by the Forbes 500 in the United States. And so as the name suggests, The Manila Times 500 will rank the top 500 companies in the Philippines and report various corporate data that are useful for business and related purposes. The list itself will be published before the end of the year.
Allow me to conclude by again thanking all of you for your continuing support. I also wish to thank my colleagues at The Times – some are here but many others are working hard as we speak to bring you all tomorrow’s newspaper. And finally, thank you to all our readers and advertisers, some of whom will be recognized tonight. Without the support of all those that I have mentioned, this anniversary would not have been possible.
Moving forward, we pledge to continue serving your needs and that of the Filipino nation. You can expect The Times to continue striving to be better in helping our readers become more free and self-governing. We remain firmly committed in earning your trust. You can expect more from us, because we believe that the best is yet to come.
Thank you and enjoy the rest of the evening.
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