30 and counting

Nora Soriño .

ILIGAN City — Thirty? And counting? Has it really been that long?

Yet it seems that it was only yesterday that a start-up newspaper called Gold Star Daily took to the streets of Cagayan de Oro. Its publisher, Ernesto “Toto” Chu, as I recall it, had then said that some of his friends thought it unwise to do so. He should have started the paper as a weekly, and then later, he may opt to make it “daily” later.

ButToto is Toto; he does not think like the rest of us. He thinks differently. Maybe, he saw something that the rest  of us didn’t.

That’s what we call genius. Mindanaoans should thank him for that. For with the paper, he has given livelihood to many an impoverished individuals and or families not only in one area but the whole of Mindanao, as well even as news are provided for the whole island. Which news is not provided by standard dailies that come from Luzon.

Of course, there are other papers too from nearby who claim to be “daily” but I would like to think that they’re born out of envy. (Like, if Ernesto Chu can, why can’t I?)

I’ve got something to relate on the matter. On “envy,” I mean. Here in this city of Iligan, there was some weekly that really was reacting, I should say, nervously when they saw a newspaper taking to the streets of the city, not weekly, but daily. As in “daily,” really.

Now, this weekly newspaper, isn’t really weekly as in. To quote, several residents, it’s “mushroomic.” That is, it just comes out, after some, uh, “rain.”

But this “newspaper” really attempted to go daily. This new “daily” was in addition to their already existing “mushroomic weekly,” pardon the term.

But their daily, folded up in less than a month! With many of those involved grumbling, because they had not been paid for their efforts by that “daily  publisher.”

So, how did Toto do it, revolutionizing the newspaper industry in this part of the world? To the extent that some “trying hard” other publishers would die trying to do a Toto Chu?

This is only a partial analysis of a mind of a genius, for who can really fathom such mind? This is based on a few of his declararions which I believe, factored in the success of this paper. (Proof, now 30 and counting!).

• The proper solution to a problem leads to success.

• We have a hard time moving forward but we cannot also move backward. (I get it that against all odds, the paper has got to move forward.)

• We will need all the help that we can get!

Yes, that. And many more. Like a good sense of humor even if things don’t seem right at the moment. 

With the present degree of success of this paper, management may take it easy now, maybe sit back and relax.

But not very much. For it is said that sooner or later with the advancement of technology, newspapers might be on the way out. Methinks though that these days, the Internet is a plus factor for the newspaper industry. For one, it has lessened the errors that were aplenty during the early days. And clients are easier to access even if you’re out of the office.

So now, take a bow, Toto Chu. And all the people  involved in bringing about a paper daily without fail, led by Herbie Gomez, the editor-in-chief and the other editors down to the correspondents, newsboys, etc. the people in the administrative department led by Ruchelle Bangis, the manager. And yes, Toto Chu’s family with wife Bebotte J. Chu who’s now the president, and their children, Lissa Rosalyn Lagura, Gladys Elaine and Catherine Mary Ann.

Thanks, too, to Rudy Goloso, that circulation in charge, that through all these times, you have helped in facilitating the visibility of Gold Star Daily in this part of Mindanao.

Here in Iligan, too, I wish to thank too, Sita Asequia, Frank Dosdos Jr., Nene Lachica, Ric Palahang, Gonie Loable, Hermie Arcilla and all the others I haven’t mentioned.

And a special salute, too, to all those who supported this paper for being with us through all these difficult but exciting years. How can we go on without you out there, our very dear and special clients?

Happy 30th anniversary, Mindanao Gold Star Daily!