PEACE-MAKER

The Manila Bulletin celebrated its 124th anniversary last Feb. 15, where it launched the “Newsmakers of the Year Award,” honoring organizations and individuals who, in the words of the media giant’s president, Emilio C. Yap III, “not only captured the nation’s imagination, but have also stirred our collective imagination with their extraordinary stories of triumph, resilience, and innovation.”

The award is a laudable initiative, for indeed, as Emil Yap pointed out, “the newsmakers are more than just their stories, they are also catalysts of change, embodiments of inspiration, and living testaments to the power of human potential.”

As the paper commemorated its 124th year, we wish to lift from our column last Feb. 13, 2022, where we paid tribute to Don Emilio Yap, whose vision and leadership have deepened and enlarged the influence of the Manila Bulletin. 

In the said column, we wrote:

“Since its founding in 1900, the Manila Bulletin has been a chronicler of the events and developments that shape our country’s history.

Manila Bulletin’s commitment to responsible, fair, and balanced news reporting is one of its many valuable contributions in nation-building. Indeed, the country’s second oldest newspaper has been a steadfast “exponent of Philippine progress” for more than a hundred years. 

Don Emilio Yap was a publisher in the classic mold of the Americans William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer and the Australian-born Rupert Murdoch. All of these media titans built newspaper empires that came to exercise enormous influence in their country’s development. 

During the 30 years, from 1984 until his death in 2014, that Don Emilio headed the Manila Bulletin, the paper became an authority on Philippine events and trends in national business. 

He also acquired and enlarged a host of other national and vernacular publications – notably the Liwayway, Banawag, Bisaya and Hiligaynon – that reached out to Filipinos in almost all the regions and corners of the country. 

After pioneering in shipping in the late 1940s, Don Emilio brought home refurbished public works equipment that built highways, bridges, mass housing, and other infrastructure, which helped create the first stirrings of Philippine reconstruction and industrialization after the ruins of World War II. 

Don Emilio’s visionary and dynamic leadership in media, tourism, pharmaceutical, education, banking, and many other industries helped propel the country’s transformation and economic development and are among his great legacies that carve a large niche in our nation’s history. 

Don Emilio’s immense love for the poor and the underprivileged, as exemplified by his innumerable philanthropy, especially in times of calamities, uplifted countless of our countrymen. When he turned 75 years old in 2000, Don Emilio stopped celebrating his birthday and instead donated to numerous charitable causes in the Philippines and around the world.

Don Emilio became a much-respected informal adviser and confidant to successive Philippine presidents. 

This columnist will always be grateful to Don Emilio for co-hosting in September 2000 the historic founding assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) that has now grown to more than 350 ruling and opposition parties in 52 countries in Asia, inaugurating a culture of dialogue and cooperation among the competing political parties at the beginning of the “Asian Century.”

We are proud that Don Emilio’s family, whom he trained well, particularly the current president of the Manila Bulletin, Emilio C. Yap III, is carrying on his tradition of excellence, discipline, innovation, and service to the Filipino people and the global community.”