AS WE dig our files and recall what Panay News has chronicled for the past four decades – 41 years to be exact – we are very much aware that the paper has become a repository of immense information on issues and events both of local and national significance. These shaped the course of our collective history.
We areprivileged to have witnessed with “eagle eyes” (the eagle is Panay News’ emblem) them and grateful for having been given the rare opportunity of recording and preserving them on Panay News’ pages – from an overpricing exposé of the maiden issue to the death of an Antiqueño icon, from the fall of the Marcos dictatorship to the deeper plunge of a disgraced movie star-turned politician, from devastating natural calamities to the emergence of Iloilo as a premier city, from the stunning rise of a mayor to the presidency to the deadly war on drugs and a very challenging coronavirus pandemic…
Indeed, today’s history was yesterday’s big news.
To mark our 41st anniversary, it is tempting to pick just one “big story” for each year since Panay News’ maiden issue on April 7, 1981. But that would not do justice to the colossal effort of our journalists who put their lives on the line in the service of the Ilonggo readers.
Allow us then to walk you through history as we list some of our choice picks – in the areas of good governance and public service or the lack of it, crime and peace and order, the intriguing world of politics, and precipitous events or those disasters both natural and man-made that defined our history and humanity.
THE EAGLE IS WATCHING
Through the years, many graft and corruption cases in local governance have landed on the front page of Panay News. The high and might were not spared.
In bold capital letters, ‘OVERPRICED!’, Panay News’ maiden headline would shape its brand of journalism for decades – very much involved in upholding public interest and press freedom. The headline was about the Metro Iloilo Water District’s (MIWD) purchase of overpriced water meters.
Panay News being Iloilo-based, provincial governance is always a subject of scrutiny. On the September 5-11, 1985 issue (this paper was then a weekly), Panay News challenged the provincial capitol with a question for a headline: “Gov. Norada involved in anomalies?”
It stated matter-of-factly: “This question bubbles up silently in the minds of the sensible public of Iloilo amid reports that the provincial government is saddled with many other anomalies, aside from the present scandal involving a fictitious insurance claim of a grader which has been the subject of investigation by Provincial Attorney Sixto Demaisip.”
The paper continued its watch of the capitol.
“Capitol men linked to shady deals” (March2-8, 1988) was about “the much ballyhooed ‘clean’ government of Gov. Sim Griño.” Panay News observed that it had become “the subject of negative reports linking a number of its high officials to numerous anomalous and shady transactions.”
This “tradition” of watching how provincial government officials perform continued during the succeeding Defensor and Tupas administrations, with headline-grabbing scandals Panay News readers watched closely.
In its November 20-26, 1985 issue, Panay News ran a story that shook Panay Island. “Rural banks’ anomalies bared” blared the headline.
With the regional office of the Central Bank of the Philippines as source, the paper exposed “some ‘wicked acts’ of rural banks in clear violation of banking laws.” Central Bank said these anomalies resulted to 15 banks in Panay Island placed under receivership.
These malpractices of the banks’ owners and officials included making loans using names of other persons, jacking up collateral values to justify their amounts loaned, and diverting funds to personal business ventures.
In Iloilo City, several multimillion-peso anomalies did not escape Panay News’ eagle-sharp eyes. There was the “Iloilo City Housing Scam” that took on various headline stories – from the substandard materials used in the housing units intended for city government employees, to the disappearance of the contractor, to the filing of charges against several city officials.
Then there was the two questionably-priced flyovers on General Luna St., with the first one found to be poorly constructed, too, such that the Department of Public Works and Highways had to buttress its foundations before vehicles were allowed to use it.
Of course, who does not know the brouhaha that surrounded the construction of the new Iloilo City Hall on Plaza Libertad? Built at a cost of over P700 million for just its “shell,” its total price ballooned further when furniture and fixtures were added.
POLITICAL INTRAMURALS
In this part of the country, Panay News is a witness to the highs and lows of public officials and politicians.
Then Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr., for example, was nearly unceremoniously booted out of the capitol during the infamous “Capitol Siege” on January 17, 2007.
A prominent opposition member, he was ordered sacked by the Office of the Ombudsman due to an alleged anomaly but luckily managed to secure a favorable order stopping his ouster from the Court of Appeals.
Who can forget former senator and mayor Rodolfo “Roding” Ganzon, the fiery “Prince of the Timawa” who made Iloilo City politics colorful?
One news stood out. “Ganzon defies suspension order” reported Panay News on May 4, 1990.
He defied the 60-day suspension order personally delivered by then Local Government Secretary Luis Santos. He also accused then President Corazon Aquino of vindictiveness. Ganzon supported then President Ferdinand Marcos during the 1986 snap presidential elections.
The basis of the suspension was the administrative charges filed by then Vice Mayor Mansueto Malabor against Ganzon for padlocking the Sangguniang Panlungsod session hall, thereby preventing city councilors from holding session.
Years later, on October 2003, Ganzon would grab headlines once more but in a more bizarre situation. The Ganzon family fought over his body.
When Ganzon died, his children from his first wife, and his new and younger wife, Rona quarreled over who should take possession of his remains. The children eventually won by forcibly taking away Ganzon’s body from the Iloilo St. Paul’s Hospital.
In Iloilo province in the months leading to the January 18, 1988 local elections, a member of the prominent Lopez clan made waves, but quite short-lived. Panay News banned “Rampant vote-buying feared in Iloilo.”
Supporters of gubernatorial candidate Olivia Lopez Padilla openly floated the idea that she would win “because she has money” amid “rumors that money will rain,’ raising valid suspicion of massive vote-buying at the homestretch of the campaign.
Reliable “insiders” told Panay News Padilla committed P3 million for each of the five congressmen backing her candidacy. But she nevertheless lost to administration bet Sim Griño.
There were many more politically-charged intrigues and developments in the local scene, but one that stood out was quite recent – the breakup of the Gonzalez-Treñas-Mabilog alliance in Iloilo City in May 2010. They both ran against each other after nine years of being together.
The Gonzalez father and son — Raul Sr. and Raul Jr. – ran for mayor and congressman, respectively, against estranged allies Jed Patrick Mabilog and Jerry Treñas. The once mighty Gonzalezes both lost.
The most recent memorable political intramural was the 2019 election clash for Iloilo City mayorship of brothers-in-law then mayor Jose Espinosa III and then congressman Jerry Treñas.
CRUEL CRIMES
Ghastly crimes do make big stories and lamentably, there were many of them all these 40 years.
One remains unforgettable – the Javier murder case in San Jose, Antique.
Reported Panay News (February 19-25, 1986 issue): “Mixed emotions of anger and fear prevailed in the entire province as Antiqueños mourn the senseless murder of former governor Evelio Javier.”
Javier, 43, governor of Antique from 1971 to 1980, succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds from armed men just across the street from the provincial capitol. He was a supporter of then opposition presidential candidate Corazon Aquino.
It is widely believed that the Javier murder case – which stirred national uproar – contributed to the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship via the People Power Revolution.
In October 12, 2004, the prime suspect in the Javier murder case was cleared.
“Pacificador acquitted” read the Panay News headline, referring to former assemblyman Arturo “Turing” Pacificador. But several of his co-accused were found guilty and are still currently serving their sentences in the National Penitentiary.
With a heavy heart, Panay News reported on July 1, 1985 the killing of a colleague in the profession. “Bombo Eddie shot dead” went the headline.
Popular DYFM Bombo Radyo broadcaster Eddie K. Suede and two of his companions slumped dead seconds after three armed men had shot them inside Payagpayag, a restaurant (later renamed “Marina”) on Diversion Road, Iloilo City at 7:15 p.m.
The two others were trainee reporter Noel Teneso and Francisco Peñafiel, an employee of the Government Service Insurance System. Suede was believed to be following up a corruption case in the GSIS when he was assassinated.
Three years later on October 1988, Panay News would report on the death of another Suede colleague, Bombo Rino Arcones – a courageous broadcaster respected throughout the region.
This paper also gave prominence to similar stories such as the assassination of broadcaster Niel “Lito” Jimena in Negros Occidental in August 22, 2011 and a few years before that, the murder of broadcaster Heherson Hinolan in Kalibo, Aklan on November 13, 2004.
Panay News also carried stories of rampant kidnappings of local Chinese-Filipino businessmen in 1987.
The incidents got so serious that by December of that year, as headlined by Panay News, Sen. Teofisto Guingona (Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chair) promised of a probe. The Iloilo Press Club estimated the ransoms paid to have reached over P30 million that time.
A few years later, however, in 1995, another case happened – the kidnap-murder of Bacolod City businesswoman Roberta Cokin.
Another crime that shook not just Western Visayas but the entire nation was the so-called Boracay Massacre on May 2004. Three prominent foreigners and a Filipina maid were hacked to death at a luxury villa in one of the world’s most famous island resorts.
One of those killed was one of Asia’s best-known art dealers – Swiss-born Manfred Schoeni who owned two art galleries in Hong Kong. The other victims were German property developer Anton Faustenhauser and Hong Kong-based British architect John Cowperthwaite.
A German national was named a suspect. He had disappeared from the country.
Two years later, in January 2006 in Iloilo City, the business community was shaken by what had been dubbed as the Tan Massacre.
Businessman Francisco “Bobby” Tan, his wife and a daughter were stabbed to death inside their bedroom in Molo district. The suspects were Bobby’s sons from a previous relationship. The two surrendered to the police and faced charges after disappearing for quite sometime. They were eventually acquitted.
The frequent offensives of the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ actions against the insurgents are stories that Panay News has always followed closely through the decades.
One example of this continuing saga was the deadly landmine attack on the policemen of Igbaras, Iloilo.
“Rebels intensify activities in Panay” was this paper’s banner story in its April 23-25, 1990 issue. It was one of the first recorded attacks where the NPA used landmines. In this attack, five policemen were instantaneously killed.
In succeeding years, Panay News would report on more similar attacks, and the arrest of some suspected rebel leadersacross Western Visayas, and just late last month, the military’s claim that the NPA forces in Western Visayas was weakening.
“Rebellion losing steam – Army” was this paper’s banner story on March 312, 2013. It carried the rebels’ response the next day, “NPA Panay-wide offensives: Rebels vow more landmine attacks.”
ILLEGAL DRUGS
Panay News also reported extensively the problem on illegal drugs in Western Visayas, including:
* the fall of Bacolod City-based drug lord Jose Kim “Boy” Cuadra (sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006, now serving his sentence at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City) and 14 years after, the killing of his son Gerald (also a suspected drug personality) in May 2020
* the assassination of Iloilo City-based drug lord Melvin “Dragon/Boyet” Odicta Sr. and wife Meriam (shot to death by unidentified gunmen in Caticlan, Malay, Aklan in August 2016)
* the fight-to-the-death defiance of another Iloilo City-based drug lord Richard “Buang” Prevendido (died in a shootout with policemen in Barangay Balabago, Jaro district in September 2017).
In August 8, 2016 Panay News reported: “‘Most shabu-lized’ was how President Rodrigo Duterte described Iloilo as he linked four mayors, including this city’s Jed Patrick Mabilog and several police officers to drug trafficking.”
The following month, Mabilog took a leave of absence, and never returned. He is reportedly in Canada with his family. The Ombudsman would eventually dismiss him from the service for unexplained wealth.
WICKED WEATHER
Because they affect everyone – rich or poor, young or old – disasters man-made or acts of nature are stories that make headlines.
Remember Typhoon “Frank” – the super howler that brought torrential rains and flooded vast tracts of land in Panay Island in June 2008?
“Franken-storm” was how Panay News headlined the disaster on July 2, 2008. The total damage of Typhoon “Frank” in the country reached P10 billion, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who visited Iloilo City and parts of Western Visayas. The monster howler’s damage to agriculture alone reached P5.21 billion.
In recent years, more typhoons would hit Western Visayas and Panay News never failed to run stories about them.
Who can forget super typhoon “Yolanda” of November 2013? The strongest every typhoon to make a landfall in the country ripped central Philippines and killed over 6,000 people. Today, 2021, the rehabilitation of affected areas continues.
It was on August 11, 2006 when the worst oil spill in the Philippines hit Western Visayas, specifically in the Guimaras Strait.
For what is now known as the Guimaras oil spill, Panay News ran a series of stories – from how it started, to how it affected Western Visayans, to what were done to stop the spread of oil and rehabilitate affected communities in Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
From the sunken oil tanker M/T Solar 1 spilled out some 500,000 liters of bunker fuel. These adversely affected marine sanctuaries, mangrove reserves and the livelihood of local fishermen.
The human aspect of any tragedy is heart-rending. This was the case of the Songsongon Bridge accident inIgbaras, Iloilo on October 2, 2005.
Twenty persons died and 19 disappeared and presumed dead. Twenty-four others had survived when floodwaters swept a passenger jeepney passing Songsongon overflow bridge. The victims had attended a funeral and were on their way home when the engine of the passenger jeepney conked out more than halfway on the Songsongon overflow bridge.
The jeepney overturned several times and fell to a drop of more than six feet after rampaging waters swept it away.
Lovers of Boracay Island, meanwhile, were shocked when it was reported in 1996 that its waters were littered with coliform bacteria, or that in 1987 or nearly a decade earlier, Panay News reported on the “Boracay pebble smuggling.”
Residents complained to Panay News in its December 9-15, 1987 issue about the unchecked operation of a syndicate illegally extracting pebbles and white sand “under the nose of military and tourism officials.”
Sources affirmed that at least 2,500 sacks of pebbles worth P1.5 million had been shipped out to Manila.
SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT
Panay News also reported on positive things, most especially those that have a great impact on the lives of the Ilonggos.
Yes, not all the bad make the headlines.
Years since the Boracay pebble smuggling and coliform reports, authorities have imposed stringent measures to protect the island. From April 2018 to October of that year, the national government closed it tourism activities for a massive six-month rehabilitation and stopped unregulated developments that threatened its ecology.
The rehab, however, is proving to be enormous and challenging. Today, the work continues, led by a multi-agency tasks force.
Panay News also bannered the opening of the new Iloilo Airport at the Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan area on June 13, 2007.
“Gateway to the world” the headline went on the day the airplane carrying then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo landed on the new Iloilo Airport of international standards to formally open it.
The P8.759-billion airport is expected to boost economic activity and tourism in the island of Panay as it serves as gateway to the Visayas of air travelers in the country and worldwide.
Indeed, Panay News hailed the first international flights (Hong Kong and Singapore) at the airport five years after it opened. “Historic flight” the headline read on November 9, 2012.
This paper also reported extensively on the Iloilo floodway since it began construction in the mid-2000s. The floodway aims to avert the perennial flooding particularly in Iloilo City and nearby towns.
One of the most recent “happy news” was the October 2020 win of Ilongga beauty Rabiya Mateo as Miss Universe Philippines. Her homecoming the following month grabbed headlines.
OUTLIVING PRESIDENCIES
Come to think of it. Panay News has outlived six presidencies – Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III – and it is poised to make it seven.
Not fond of the Marcos dictatorship? Then consider the fall of the Marcos regime as good news. Panay News, then a weekly, marked the event by running the headline “Marcos era ends” in its March 5-11, 1986 issue.
This was its take on what is now called the 1986 February People Power Revolution. Events unfolded fast but a fledgling weekly like Panay News tried its best to deliver this historic and significant news to its Ilonggo readers.
It marked this new era by reporting: “The two-year reign of President Ferdinand Marcos – six years democratic and 14 years dictatorial – has come to an end, unleashing public confidence in his successor, Corazon Aquino, the true winner in the February 7 snap elections.”
In the national scene, this paper also covered the ouster of then President Joseph Estrada in January 21, 2001 and the ascent to power of his vice president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This event became People Power 2.
The scandals and controversies that hounded the Arroyo administration were also extensively covered such as the Fertilizer Scam, the Oakwood Mutiny, the 2004 presidential election and accusations of fraud a year later,attempts on Charter Change, andthe Maguindanao Massacre.
The Influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines was so worried that on February 2006, it – led by Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo – issued a statement carried by this paper.
“Nation of fraud” was how Panay News phrased the headline to reflect the seeming endless scandals and corruption battering the Arroyo administration from all sides.
The death of former President Corazon Aquino in August 1, 2009 and the historic first automated election In May 10, 2010was also given much attention by this paper, and so was the rise of her son Benigno Aquino III to the presidency.
While the economy improved under the second Aquino administration (thanks to the strong economic foundations laid by the Arroyo administration), it also had its share of controversies such as the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, the unconstitutional pork barrel and Priority Development Assistance Fund, the Mamasapano massacre, the poor handling of super typhoon “Yolanda” and the embarrassing Rizal Park hostage-taking.
Then in 2016 came the rise of the Duterte presidency. With it comes controversial policies such as the war on drugs, appeasement of China vis-à-vis the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea, the red-tagging of activists, poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic…
As we in Panay News mark our paper’s 41stanniversary, we are very much aware that we’re entering another year of history in the making. We enjoin the public to walk side by side with the biggest regional newspaper./PN
