ILIGAN City ― There's a man that has made a great difference in many lives, including mine.
I am talking about Ernesto "Toto" Chu. I mean, if there wasn't any Ernesto "Toto" Chu in our lives, where would we be? I mean if there wasn't any Sir Toto, in several lives, where would the editors, the correspondents, the bureau chiefs, the secretaries, the newsboys, the MGSD readers, advertisers, etc. be? And all the others that had been touched by this MGSD well, phenomenon be? MGSD of course, stands for Mindanao Gold Star Daily.
For one thing, the concept mostly of newspapering in this part of our world was mostly, weekly. As in "weekly" really. Or once, "kada ewek" as many put it in jest.
But Toto is of the rare kind of mind., a genius, a gift to many of us whose lives had been touched.
Oh, have I become redundant? Or repetitious? Well, maybe. I can't avoid it because this is the beginning of the 34th year!
"Could it be that things were all so simple then…Or has time rewritten every line…?" These are some of the lyrics of a song sung by Barbra Streisand. Well, I couldn't help relating to those lyrics. Because every newspapering enterprise was so "weekly" in this part of Mindanao. Until Toto had "rewritten" it. To "daily."
That could have been against all odds. But…
With his unusual way of thinking, of analyzing, it would not just be in Cagayan de Oro, but the whole of Mindanao. A very ambitious way of thinking. And very forward-looking. And it helped too that the bus terminals in Mindanao, are integrated. So, very little problem there. As far as delivering the paper daily in practically every corner of Mindanao.
If one looks up the description of this paper, it says, it's a "trailblazer." Right. A very apt description. For one thing, there are so many newsworthy happenings in the countryside. Which we barely are conscious of. Because the news in newspapering is centered in Luzon, in "Imperial Manila."
The news, of course, is not only in Cagayan de Oro. There too were established various bureaus in strategic places in Mindanao.
This city of Iligan was among the first to have some bureau established there. With the concept of "partial autonomy." That's how I looked at it. But with the assistance of the central office in CDO. I would describe the move as "tough." But with Toto Chu, I could only think of it in relation to the quote that "When the going gets tough, only the tough get going."
Anyway, when we began operations as a bureau here in this city, several weeklies here got threatened, I should say. To the point that one weekly here decided to go "daily" too. Sort of, "If Ernesto 'Toto' Chu can do it, why can't I?"
That particular newspaper here, which I would not name, went daily. For only three weeks. And then it returned to weekly. Of course, there is only one Ernesto "Toto" Chu.
We know it's been tough. Even now. Especially with the current developments in our midst. With digitalization. And with the recent lockdowns due to Covid. But this guy who had started this all and whose genius, personality, his abilities have rubbed off somewhat on us, how could we not prevail? For one thing, provisions are made as to its continuity, even in the years to come!
These days, we see another "daily" here that is stuck with some seemingly insurmountable complaints. We are then blessed and thankful that no such things of that kind happened here. Although there had been a handful of cases too. We're thankful though that it had been minimal. Like, if there's trouble at some point in a bureau office somewhere in Mindanao? Boss Toto with some team members would go there, to analyze, to assist. Before trouble gets out of hand.
And now, it's the 34th anniversary of this paper. So, to everybody reading this piece, or even to those who aren't, I say, Happy Anniversary!
