Last year, around July, a month after classes started, we were made to bring a copy of a broadsheet for one of our subjects. I recall one academic saying that the Philippine Daily Inquirer is our “presse de référence” or newspaper of record, so I bought one copy and became interested in collecting the paper’s issues.
My first time reading the paper was chaotic. The pages were everywhere and I could not read a single article peacefully. But that didn’t take long. I found a practical way of reading the paper without getting most of the pages ruined or wrinkled. Open the page like a book carefully, then reverse one page to the back and flatten its corners; this way the newspaper’s form is preserved.
But why would I put effort in a paper used by many as cover for dried and smoked fish, or as a layer for goods in the market? The answer is history. After all, the paper is the first draft of history, as the famous quotation says. Under an autocratic era, I thought it was imperative to preserve or have a copy of history to prevent historical revisionism in the future.
It also liberalized my perspective on society through its “fearless views.”From Manuel L. Quezon III’s “The Long View” to the stories in the Young Blood section that restore our faith in humanity greatly — they all shape my intellectual identity, making me critical as well as self-critical.
With all the disinformation circulating today, the Inquirer has kept its integrity by keeping the powers-that-be in check despite the dangerous environment for journalism. Its theme for its 34th anniversary, “Going for more,”reflects its effort to help uphold our democracy. It is one of the few remaining institutions that maintain the true call of journalism in our critical times.
To the Philippine Daily Inquirer, luid! (Long live in Kapampangan.)
LUIS BONIFACIO
Floridablanca, Pampanga