“IF YOU have faith as a small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
Panay News founder Daniel “Danny” Gumban Fajardo was a man of great faith. On April 7, 1981 the first issue of this newspaper rolled off the press. It was a deep leap of faith for him.
The daunting logistical challenges would have broken, literally and figuratively, a lesser man. But not Sir DF. No printing press of his own? No problem. He made the rounds of practically all printing presses in Iloilo City, always badgering for the lowest printing cost and the longest payment term
There was a time when he brought our entire manuscripts to Manila to economize on cost. He flew back to Iloilo punishing himself with a heavy bundle of the week’s Panay News on his shoulder to and from the airplane.
Such was Sir DF – persistence and courage personified. He was a man on a mission – deliver to his fellow Ilonggos stories that matter, information that is fresh, reliable and credible. He recognized that newspapering is an industry that has so much public interest and those who are called must be ready to serve.
“Our world is a revolving machine,” he once told our senior reporter Glenda Tayona, and so we must have the courage to evolve, too, and not stay dormant. Or we would be left by the wayside, irrelevant, he warned us.
AN ANSWER TO THE CHALLENGE
In his message to the Ilonggos in the maiden issue of Panay News, Sir DF laid bare his pursuit:
“Having been in the business for many years, one of the lessons we have learned is that the measure of success largely depends upon the weight of the challenge.
“Newspaper business is a challenging one. The first is the call for creativity. Unless a paper is creative enough to fit into the “journalistic kitchen”, the publisher will, on a most embarrassing moment, get out of it.
“Take the other challenge: competition. National dailies circulating in the provinces will surely be prompted to have better papers. After all, they have the resources and facilities.
“Also, the local papers will wake up to the need for a more serious approach towards newspapering. This is so because as of now, it is very noticeable that some local papers are just put out for the sake of legal notices. Still, others are being put out by people who own printing presses but who are unfortunately not well-versed with the newspaper business.
“It is our belief that newspapers should be creative enough to face these challenges. Newspapers that are published only because the publisher has the facilities, or the editor knows how to edit and write, are bound to fail. This proven fact exists because the total demand of the newspapering challenge was not met.
“A newspaper to be successful therefore should be handled according to its challenges and demands, whether it be on the production, editorial or marketing aspect. Panay News Today will face these…squarely.”
And so from a fledgling weekly in 1981, Sir DF saw to it that Panay News became what it is today – the most widely-circulated and read regional daily, serving the Ilonggos wherever they may be, not just in print but via newer technologies.
His dream has become a reality. But as we always say, there is still so much more to do. And so we soldier on…with the faith and courage inspired by our founder./PN
