Four moving stories about the Inquirer you probably haven't heard of

Inquirer president Sandy Prieto-Romualdez
[Photo by Maricar Brizuela]

For many people, especially those my age (I'm 25), the Philippine Daily Inquirer is but a newspaper that they use to get news and information they need and want. Nothing wrong about this. In fact, it is flattering.

However, like many companies that started small, the paper has faced its own challenges in the past 25 years that today serves as inspiring, moving stories for us newer employees. It's always nice to hear more senior colleagues talk about how it was in the days, when they were already delivering news while I study subject-verb agreement in elementary.

Then senator Noynoy Aquino visited the Inquirer as the
paper celebrated its 24th anniversary in 2009
[Photo by Penelope Endozo]

I had an idea of listing down a couple of these stories after hearing our president, Sandy Prieto-Romualdez, talk  in our branding activity the other day at the Marriot Manila (which I blogged about here) where she shared some of the more interesting tidbits about the paper that I only got to here then (after five years of writing for Inquirer).

I'm sure, all of us employees have our own touching stories to tell, but here's four that really moved me:






1. The 1999 boycott led by then-President Joseph "Erap" Estrada
          In 1999, I was still in second year high school so I had no idea about this boycott until after I became an Inquirer employee. Apparently, Estrada instigated an advertisement boycott--he called the paper's advertisers and told them to stop placing ads--because he deemed the paper too against him. This moment was perhaps the most challenging era for the paper. I could only imagine the fear that employees went through that time, considering Estrada did the exact same thing to a smaller paper several months before he attacked the Inquirer. That smaller paper folded (or at least changed management). Fortunately, for the Inquirer, which held its ground, the paper survived and the advertisers came back one by one.

2. A kid sent his "baon" in a letter
          It was during this boycott, when the paper was running with only about 12 pages, that dozens of letters came pouring in. They were letters of support from thousands of avid readers that believe in the paper. During that time, many people sent in money to help with the paper's production. But there was a kid, we were told, that send out the "baon" he had saved so the paper could continue running as normal as possible. That was touching! I was told those letters were posted on a board as a sign of gratitude to those supporters. I hope someone kept all those letters!

3. Our president stopped by for a new employee
          When I was new to Inquirer five years ago, I worked as an editorial production assistant (before I eventually became a writer), which required me to stay in the office until about 11pm (much later if we need to do overtime work). Once, it was past midnight that we finished our work and I was on my way out of the office to walk back home (which was just a couple of blocks away from the office). Just when I was walking home, a car stopped by, pulled its windows down and--lo and behold--it was our president, Sandy, who asked if she could drop me off somewhere as it was late. I was utterly flattered being that I was only a couple of months into my job then. For someone like her to even ask--or recognize me (and my name!). I politely declined and said that I live nearby so there's no need for the ride.

4. Employees receives salary as the company earned money
          Back when the paper was just starting out, we were told that some employees would get their salary (more of coins) as collections from advertisers come in. No collections, no salary. Of course, today, we have set dates as to when we receive our salaries. Again (back to the boycott), during that terrible era for the Inquirer, more senior colleagues told me that many employees were willing to give up their salaries just so they could help the paper straighten things out. I don't want this thing ever happening again, but I do--at some level--envy those employees for having had the chance to sacrifice something so important to them for the good of the company.