The birth of the

ON Oct. 11, 2018, marked its 120th anniversary. I am so glad to be part of this newspaper, joining the roster of public historians who became its columnists such as Esteban A. de Ocampo, Carmen Guerrero Nakpil and Felice Prudente Sta. Maria.

The time of the birth of the on Oct. 11, 1898 was a period of transition. The newspaper is almost as old as Philippine Independence and was a product of the arrival of the new colonizers, the Americans. According

English-language daily in the Philippines but contrary to popular belief, it was not an American who founded it, but an Englishman residing in the Philippines, Thomas Gowan.

American- owned newspaper in Manila came out,

The latter’s maiden issue on Sept. 10, 1898 was circulated less than a month after the Americans took Intramuros from the Spaniards. According to a recently published article by the historian of Philippine journalism, José Victor Torres, “The History of the Philippines Press, 1811-1910,” which is included in the Vibal Publishing book,

this short-lived newspaper was published by a group of soldiers from the 13th Minnesota Volunteers as a newsletter for the company and not as a daily.

Cowan, after a short stint as owner of the sold his share to the American business manager, George Sellner, who in 1907, sold the news-

established it as a publishing corporation, The Manila Times Company.

This was the time when, according to Torres, “The business of newspaper publishing at the start of the 20th century was shared by enterprising Americans with Filipinos and Spanish businessmen who chose to remain in the Philippines. Most of these Americans arrived as volunteer soldiers during the early period of the occupation while others were traders who were already doing business in the country with the opening of the colony to world trade. These businessmen eventually made their publications into popular reading material for the public, feeding the need for information and entertainment. Gone were the preaching tone of articles that marked the kind of journalism during the Spanish times. The stories became more informative. Editorials became ‘shorter, more constructive, and less personal’.”

Torres also said that this was also a transition to fresher designs copied from the United States, more photographs and the introduction of the news service with reports from war correspondents covering the SpanishAmerican War and the PhilippineAmerican War.

While many newspapers came out the next year, 1899, many of the Filipino and Spanish publishers couldn’t compete with newspapers and magazines and many of these periodicals folded as soon as they rolled. But came out more enduring than the rest. contained descriptions of the newspaper made by the journalist and historian Wenceslao Emilio Retana, as translated by Jaime Marcó, “…51 ½ x 39 ½ cm, text in seven columns,

in ordinary folio with the text in two columns and without an imprint…. In issue no. 2 its size doubled and the text was set in three columns…. And its size doubled once again and the text was printed in 6 columns in October of the same year 1898.”

The next sentence in the description was telling: “This newspaper was genuinely about news… contains a lot of articles, engravings, etc.”

In 1917, Sellner sold the controlling block of the corporation to Manuel Quezon and his friends who held it for three years and thought they could use it for their political agenda. And then to a succession of owners, George Fairchild, Jacob Rosenstock and Leo Thibault, who also became

which closed down on Feb. 19,1930, “owing to the uncertain political status of the Philippines, portentous to American business.”

Torres wrote: “With the closing of ended the

the 20th century. It would soon lead to the growth of newspaper publishing into a lucrative business enterprise in the later years before the Second World War.”

The many hiatuses, the closing and reopening of the tell of the various ups and downs of our country’s history: The closing of World War 2 ushered in the reopening the newspaper on May 27, 1945; then its closure with the proclamation of Martial Law on Sept. 22, 1972; and then its reopening on Feb. 6, 1986 leading to the People Power Revolution; and then its brief closure and reopening in 1999 during a time of President Joseph Estrada’s turbulent relations with the press. was there as a periodical of record.