IV. Post-War Era: Conclusion

Liberation of Manila
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The liberation of Manila on February 3, 1945 meant the liberation of the press as well from the Japanese censorship. The post-war era started on 1946 until the pre-martial law period. In a nutshell, the press during the post-war era became free again. However, during this time, the press was forced into a “marriage of convenience” with large business enterprises and political groups; which is why the giant newspapers remained in the field. This kind of ownership structure meant that the press operated mostly to support the publishers’ interests. Here, we can conclude that the press’ social impact was strong, especially that this is when the media monopolies started.

Professionalism was also high during this era, with the establishment of journalism schools to train the youth and the formation of organizations for the journalists as evidences.

III. Golden Era – Philippine Journalism

PHILIPPINE JOURNALISM

The Philippine press began to be known as “the freest in Asia.” The press functioned as a real watchdog of the government. It was sensitive to national issues and critical of government mistakes and abuses.

I. Increasing Professionalism

Logo of Philippine Press Institute

A. Philippine Press Institute

Founded in 1964, the Philippine Press Institute (PPI) was organized “to foster the development and improvement of journalism in the country.” However, it would later become inactive during the Martial Law regime. In its heyday, it was known as the national association of newspapers and represented the interests and concerns of the print media. The institute conducts training programs and organizes educational activities for Filipino journalists, seeks to protect their rights and freedoms in the pursuit of their practice, creates and introduces opportunities for the development of the journalist as a practitioner.

Among its contributions to the traditions of Philippine Journalism include the publication of the Law of the Press: A PPI Manual in 1965, Clear Effective Writing: A PPI Manual in 1967 and with the National Press Club, the later formulation of the Journalist’s Code of Ethics.

B. Establishment of formal training and degree programs

In 1960, the Philippine Women’s University established a school in journalism.

1966 saw the re-establishment of the BS Journalism degree under the Institute of Mass Communication in the University of the Philippines.

In 1971, the University of Santo Tomas begins offering its BA Journalism degree under its Faculty of Arts and Letters

II. Prominent Print Media and Journalists of the Era

Joaquin “Chino” Roces

A. Manila Times; Chino Roces

Possibly the most famous figure associated with The Manila Times was Joaquin “Chino” Roces, ‘Grand Old Man’ of Philippine journalism and long-time editor of The Manila Times. He was one of the founders of the Philippine Press Institute and was responsible for the Manila Times Style Book (1960) and the Manila Times Journalism Manual (1963).

B. The Evening News; Maximo Soliven

Maximo Soliven

Maximo Soliven became the editor and publisher of The Evening News at the tender age of 27. Under his tenure, The Evening News jumped from 6^th in circulation to the second largest newspaper in the country. He, like the other journalists mentioned in this paper, would be detained during Martial Law. He would later co-found The Philippine Daily Inquirer (1985) and The Philippine Star (1986).

C. Philippine Free Press; Teddy Locsin Sr.

Teddy Locsin Sr. was another prominent journalist detained during Martial Law. Before this, he was the editor of the Philippine Free Press, one of the oldest and most respected weekly magazines in the country. It was due to the magazine’s stance of repeatedly warning against a plan by then-President Marcos to implement military rule to stay in power that Locsin was detained.

D. Napoleon G. Rama

Napoleon Rama was the editor of the El Observatorio, the only Spanish language newspaper in Cebu, which regularly published news stories about Spain and South-America. Aside from these, he was known for an article published in the Philippine Free Press entitled “North Borneo Belongs To US”. This would later become the basis of the government’s negotiations in reclaiming Sabah. Eventually he would become the floor leader of the 1987 Constitutional Convention.

II. Golden Era – Philippine Media (Radio, Television and Cinema)

I. Philippine Cinema

As history would show, the pre-Martial Law era cinema of the Philippines would eventually turn out to be a sort of lull between the First Golden Age of Philippine Cinema during the 1950s characterized by the big 4 film studios and the Second Golden Age of Philippine Cinema during the 1970s, characterized by the rise of avant garde filmmaking.

Initially attempting to keep up with the large numbers of foreign imported movies, studios produced local versions of James Bond knockoffs and Westerns. The film genres of the time were direct reflections of the “disaffection with the status quo” at the time. Particularly, the emergence of this revolt can be seen in the proliferation of the “bomba” films, ranging from softcore erotica to hardcore pornography. Youth revolt, represented by the Beatles and rock and roll, also emerged during this era. To keep up with this, the studios created teen “love team” romantic musicals and comedies. Through this, movies and teen love teams were created, including the pairings of Nora Aunor and Tirso Cruz III, known as “Guy & Pip”, as well as the pairing of Vilma Santos and Edgar Mortiz, known as “Vi & Bot”.

Nora Aunor and Tirso Cruz III “Guy & Pip”

Vilma Santos and Edgar Mortiz “Vi & Bot”

The era would see the decline and fall of the 1950s era studio system due to constant labor management conflicts and the declining profits. The so-called “Big Three” would later close one by one. The first studio to close was Lebran followed by Premiere Productions then LVN. These studios were replaced by new and independent producers like Regal Films, which was established by Lily Monteverde in 1962.

Technologically, the era also saw the first color movie technology, called Eastmancolor, arrive in the country and these helped Filipino filmmakers create full-length color films. One of the first color productions was Ito ang Pilipino, which was starred and produced by Joseph Estrada. After the release of Ito ang Pilipino, movie producers completely stopped producing movies in black and white.

Prominent films of the era include:

• Noli Me Tangere (1961)
• El Filibusterismo (1962)
• Iginuhit ng Tadhana – starring Gloria Romero as Imelda Marcos; was said to be a political ploy to capture the vote of the masses for then-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos
• Huwag mo Akong Limutin (Never Forget Me)(1960)
• Kadenang Putik (Chain of Mud) (1960)

II. Philippine Radio

DZTM, DZMT, DZWS – owned by Roces family

DZAQ, DZBC, DZXL – owned by Lopez family

DZRH – owned by Elizalde family

DZTV – owned by Soriano family

DZBB – owned by Robert Stewart

DZKB – owned by Roberto Benedicto

Aside from the aforementioned, several other entities also operated radio stations.

• DZEC – Eagle Broadcasting Corporation
• DZEM – Christian Broadcasting Service
• DZFE – Far East Broadcasting Company
• DZUP and DZLB – University of the Philippines
• DZST – University of Santo Tomas
• DZTC – National Teachers College
• DZFM and DZRM – Government Radio
• DZTR – Trans-Radio Broadcasting Corporation
• DZBM – Mareco Broadcasting Company
• DZTR established in 1965 owned by Trans-Radio Broadcasting Corporation
• DZRJ – Rajah Broadcasting Network

III. Philippine Television

A. Overview

The first television network in the country was operated by Alto Broadcasting System which was owned by Antonio Quirino, the brother of then-President Elpidio Quirino. The next one would be operated by the Lopez-owned Chronicle Broadcasting Network in 1957. In 1958, the Lopezes would purchase ABS from Quirino. Thus did they control the first two television stations in the country.

Others would follow soon after. By the 1960s, television sets had become the most sought-after appliance in urban areas. This explosion in consumers also saw the growth of the television industry in the country.

The Interisland Broadcasting Company, owned by Andres Soriano, began operations on what would become Channel 13 in 1960. The Philippine Government and an American, Robert Stewart would also set up shop the following year, with TV-10 and TV-7, respectively. In 1962, the Roces family starts up the Associated Broadcasting Network on Channel 5. Finally, the last pre-Martial Law television station is established by Roberto Benedicto on Channel 9 and named the Radio Philippines Network.

B. Content

Initially, economic constraints forced the content on these television networks to be dependent on imported American television programs. Imported programs were cheaper than producing them locally. Eventually, there would be a “Filipinization” of the local television scene as it became more economical to produce local television content.

Advertising in the Philippines would also undergo a similar “Filipinization”. Initially, advertisers used television ads imported from the US. In 1960, Procter and Gamble paved the way with their first local television ad. In 1966, when it changed from black and white to color, Colgate-Palmolive was the first to advertise in color.

In 1961, the National Science Development Board was established; it was the earliest initiative to use local TV for education, “Education on TV” and “Physics in the Atomic Age.” In 1963, the Bolinao Electric Company (a forerunner of ABS-CBN) held its first television broadcasts in color. In 1969, Filipinos joined the world in witnessing the Apollo 11 moon landings. It was the first satellite telecast in the country and the first in color as well.

Aside from these, there were also several prominent programs in the 1960s. These include the RPN sitcom John en Marsha, Puruntongs, The Nida-Nestor Show, Buhay Artista, Pancho Loves Tita, Tawag Ng Tanghalan and Student Canteen. Most of these would last until Martial Law.

The late 1960s also saw the beginnings of television news. The first news and public affairs programs were The Big News on ABC Channel 5 and The World Tonight on ABS-CBN Channel 2, currently on ANC. These were then followed by Channel 9’s Newswatch. Among the most prominent news broadcasters of the era was Jose Mari Velez, anchor of TV5’s The Big News and later member of the 1987 Constitutional Convention.

I. Golden Era – Overview

The “Golden Era” is characterized by the creation and dominance of several media conglomerates owned by prominent families and the subsequent creation of the “media oligarchy”, the confluence of technological advances and cultural changes which contributed to the proliferation of radio and television, the emergence of advertising, as well as the creation of “the freest press in Asia”.

MEDIA OLIGARCHY

The era saw several wealthy families with prominent businesses owning a combination of radio stations, television stations and newspapers. This resulted in the creation of the “media oligarchy”, where a relatively small number of people controlled the majority of the media. The most prominent ones are summarized in the table below.

RADIO STATIONS	TELEVISION STATIONS	NEWSPAPERS AND PRINT MEDIA	OWNED BY	NOTES
DZTM, DZMT, DZWS	ABC – 5 (Associated Broadcasting Company)	The Manila Times	Roces family	Today’s TV5
DZAQ, DZBC, DZXL	ABS-CBN (from merger of Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) -formerly Channels 3 and 9, then Channels 2 and 4	The Manila Chronicle	Lopez family	Today’s ABS-CBN -1959 merger of the first two television channels in the country.
DZRH	MBC-11 (Manila Broadcasting Company)	The Evening News	Elizalde family
DZTV	IBC – 13 (Interisland Broadcasting Corporation)	The Philippine Herald	Soriano family
DZBB	RBS-7 (Republic Broadcasting System)	–	Robert Stewart	Today’s GMA
DZKB	RPN-9 (Radio Philippines Network)	–	Roberto Benedicto	Today’s Solar News

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES

Radiowealth advert

In 1955, Radiowealth, a local company, began its assembly operations of Motorola television sets. By 1967, Radiowealth was producing 19-, 21- and 25-inch models of color TV sets. With this, the Philippines became the third country in the world with color television. The effect of a local company selling television sets at relatively attainable prices resulted in many middle class families obtaining television sets and tuning in.

III. Post-War Era: Professionalization

These years were characterized by the emergence of journalism education, advertising, public relations, and the pioneer personalities in radio, newspaper and television.

In 1952, the Lyceum University established a school of journalism. On that same year, the National Press Club was also formed “to promote cooperation among journalists and uphold press freedom and the dignity of journalists.”

Lyceum of the Philippines Intramuros
(c) upload.wikimedia.org/

In 1954, The National Media Production Center (NMPC) was formed under the Office of the President. Its “builders” were Hernando R. Ocampo, Conrado V. Pedroche and Gregorio Cendara. NMPC was mandated to produce information and education materials for government development programs.

In 1957, the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) was organized. According to PRSP, they were established with the mission of advancing the practice of public relations by:

1. uniting those engaged in the profession;
2. encouraging continuing education of practitioners;
3. generating public confidence in the profession by promoting high ethical practice and encouraging high standards of public service;
4. playing the active role in all matters affecting the practice of public relations; and
5. strengthening the relationships of public relations professionals with employees and clients, government at all levels, educators, with media and the general public.

In 1960, the Philippine Women’s University also established a school of journalism.

II. Post-War Era: The Tri-Media

I. Radios

In July 2, 1946, Commonwealth Act 729 was established which gave the President of the Philippines a four-year right to grant temporary permits for the construction, installation, establishment and operation of radio stations. On the following year, the radio stations were required to change the first broadcast call letter from K to D: “KZ” was replaced by “DZ” for Manila, “DW” Luzon, “DY” for the Visayas, and “DX” for Mindanao.

KZFM was the first radio station that re-opened after the war. It was named after Frederic Marquardt, an American newsman on the pre-war Philippines Free Press who returned with MacArthur’s troops. KZFM is a 50-watt station operated by the US Army Office of War Information. It was renamed DZFM in 1947.

Post-war provincial radio had its debut when the Cebu Broadcasting Company opened DYRC on Sept. 21, 1947. DYRC was followed shortly after by DYBU.

In 1949, Manila Broadcasting Company and the Philippine Broadcasting System merged, which made the station DZRI the strongest combine in the Philippines at the time. Big business interests were responsible for some of the first post-war commercial stations.

II. Newspapers

Manila Free Philippines (February-September 1945) was the first post-liberation newspaper, which was published by the U. S. Office of War Information. At first, it was distributed for free and then eventually, it sold for five centavos.

After the war, huge publishers revived the newspapers. “In the free-enterprise economy, the small “militant, frequently dissenting newspapers” perished” (Fernandez, 1989) which included:

• Philippine Liberty News

  

  Philippine Liberty News (c) historicalnews.com

• Manila Post
• Manila Tribune
• Morning Sun

The giant publishers dominated the field: The Manila Bulletin, The Manila Times, Evening News, and the Manila Chronicle which was started by a group of pre-war newspapermen in 1945 and became “The People’s Newspaper. It was then bought by businessman Don Eugenio Lopez, brother of then vice president Fernando Lopez.

The Manila Chronicle (c) blogspot.com

The media monopolies began in this era, with the Manila dailies controlling the mass media. Advertising was the major source of the papers’ revenue during that time. The small papers were ignored by the advertisers because of political pressures and lack of readers due to low literacy and incomes. They did not also receive government support. So, the large publishers thrived but they were controlled by the advertisers’ interests.

III. Television

Charlie Agatep, first program director of DZAQ-TV Channel 3
(c) charlieagatep.wordpress.com

The television came to the Philippines in the 1950s and had its first official telecast in the Philippines in October 23, 1953.

Television was introduced with the opening of DZAQ-TV Channel 3 by the Alto Broadcasting System, which was the first station that opened in Manila. The station was owned by Antonio Quirino, the brother of the incumbent Philippine president Elpidio Quirino.

DZAQ-TV Channel 3 operated on a four hour-a-day schedule, 6 PM – 10 PM and telecasts for only over a 50-mile radius. It was then bought by the Chronicle Broadcasting Network.

Reference: Fernandez, D. (n.d.). The Philippine Press System: 1811-1989. Philippine Studies, 37(3), 317-344.

I. Post-War Era – Brief Overview

“Never had the press been so free, never had it wielded such power and influence. The government was but recently established and uncertain of its strength. It was extremely sensitive to public opinion and the press took advantage of this healthy state, pouncing on the government’s least mistakes and making national issues of them… The power of the press was utterly out of proportion to the circulations of the various papers. None could claim a sale of more than a few thousand copies… There was censorship by the U. S. Army… But military censorship was soon erased and finally lifted, then it was open season and good hunting for politicians.” – Teodoro Locsin, editor of the Philippine Free Press

(c) psywarrior.com

Press censorship ended during the post-war era. The radio stations were re-opened, though they faced a major problem which was the lack of the receivers. More receivers seemed to be concentrated in the provinces than in Manila. The newspapers also rose, with the Manila Free Philippines being the first post-liberation newspaper. It was, at first, distributed for free. The post-war era also paved the way for a new media in the Philippines, which is the television. Commercial television came in 1953 when DZAQ-TV Channel 3 was opened in Manila by Alto Broadcasting System.

(c) xiaochua.files.wordpress.com

The professionalization of journalism also began during this time, with the establishment of departments and schools to train people.