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— The Editors

PNA through the years: From 1973 to the present

By Severino Samonte

March 1, 2023, 3:09 pm Updated on March 1, 2023, 9:04 pm

MANILA – After 50 years of being the government's official newswire service provider, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) continues to adhere to its unwavering commitment of disseminating information on government policies and programs designed to improve the quality of life of the Filipino people.

Since its inception on March 1, 1973 by the administration of then President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., PNA has operated continuously seven days a week despite some unavoidable events and obstacles along its way.

It has so far served the last 13 years of the 20-year Marcos Sr. administration (1973-1986) plus those of the succeeding six chief executives: Presidents Corazon C. Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph E. Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno S. Aquino III and Rodrigo R. Duterte.

On June 30 of last year, it began covering the six-year administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

At the beginning, PNA, which actually replaced the privately-owned news cooperative Philippine New Service (PNS) organized in 1950 by the eight major newspapers in Manila, only had 11 staff members.

The late Jose L. Pavia, former executive editor of the defunct Philippines Herald, was appointed as the first general manager of the infant news agency, with the late Renato B. Tiangco, also formerly of the Herald and a foreign news agency wireman as managing editor. This writer, a holdover from the PNS, was named national and provincial news editor.

The agency initially used the editorial offices vacated by the PNS on the second floor of the National Press Club of the Philippines building along Magallanes Drive in Intramuros, Manila. The first PNA correspondents were chosen from among the former PNS stringers covering the country’s then just 70 provinces and 60 cities.

When then Department of Public Information (DPI) Secretary and later on Assemblyman and Senator Francisco S. Tatad turned on the switch to launch the PNA in the afternoon of March 1, 1973 in Malacañang, he said: “The Philippine News Agency will be operated in the best tradition of the world’s professional news agencies.”

Officials and employees of the Philippine News Agency (PNA), led by News and Information Bureau (NBI) Director Raymond Robert C. Burgos, pose with Fr. Allan Cabatian who officiated a Mass to celebrate the PNA’s 50th anniversary at the PIA Building along Visayas Ave., Quezon City on Wednesday (March 1, 2023). (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)

In 1974, PNA established its provincial and regional bureau in Cebu City for the Visayas and opened a new era in Philippine community journalism. Seven-tabloid sized newspapers published in Cebu were able to carry news from Manila and abroad through the wires of the PNA, which had entered into a tie-up with the four major news agencies of the world, namely: United Press International (UPI), Associated Press (AP), Agence France Presse (AFP) and Reuters.

Under the arrangement, PNA subscribers in Cebu could use the stories from the four foreign news agencies with these appendages: (PNA/UPI), (PNA/AP), (PNA/AFP) and PNA/Reuters). In return, the four news agencies were given free use of PNA items from the provinces.

In its first-and-a- half-decade of existence, PNA was performing well in accordance with its mandate. It was the reason why almost all newspapers and radio-television stations in Metro Manila and the regions were subscribing to its news service. In many instances, several media outfits which could not send their own reporters and photographers to the coverage of major events overseas, like the Southeast Asian Games, had to rely on PNA reports and photographs.

One of the noted newspaper columnists in the country today, Ramon Tulfo, who was among the first deskmen to join PNA in 1973, had a very credulous memory about PNA, despite its occasional lapses in the transmission of its reports. He said in one of his columns in the Philippine Daily Inquirer in 2017:

"The PNA -- the local equivalent of AP, UPI, Reuters, and AFP-- feeds local news and government reports to various newspapers, media outlets and government agencies here and abroad.

"I was very fortunate to have been a PNA deskman, someone who pored over copies of reporters from the field, from 1973 to 1975. I earned my wings as a journalist at the agency. I owe what I am now to the PNA during the time I would like to describe as its 'golden years'."

For his part, lawyer Hector A. Villacorta, former administrator of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) of the Department of National Defense, in a message to PNA during its 26th anniversary celebration in March 1999, said:

"It is with pride that I greet the officials, editors, staff and employees of the Philippine News Agency on the occasion of its 26th anniversary. I was privileged to have played a part during its inception when my opinion was asked on the legality of its organization as legal counsel of the Department of Public Information. Of course, I interposed no objection.

"Today, as I rejoin government in the veterans sector, I am happy to note that the PNA is still there and performs a vital role in the dissemination of information about local and international events -- thus promoting our social, economic and political well-being. Information is the foundation of awareness and thereafter, understanding.

"The PNA must continue to let the Filipino people know that their government is utilizing all means to enable us to reach all our dreams and aspirations for the coming millennium."

Villacorta is at present an assistant secretary for communications of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Since PNA does not have its own building, it has transferred at least six times in the past 50 years. The first was from the NPC Bldg. to nearby UPL Bldg. in front of Fort Santiago (1978-1981); to Puyat Bldg. on Solana Street, also in Intramuros (1981-1983); Office of Media Affairs (OMA) on Bohol Avenue, Quezon City (1983-1987); back to the NPC Bldg. (1988-1996) and finally to its present site at the second floor of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Bldg. at the Media Center along Visayas Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City.

It is impossible to write about PNA's five-decade history without mentioning the obstacles and setbacks it had experienced following the change of administration after the Feb. 22-25, 1986 EDSA People Power revolt.

After the assumption of power by President Corazon C. Aquino and the restoration of full democracy in the country, several new newspapers sprouted in Metro Manila, offering higher pay scales. This lured many PNA editors, deskmen, reporters and photographers to transfer to such publications. In turn, the agency was left with few capable editors, reporters and photographers.

Then came the government reorganization in 1987 which further decimated the dwindling number of PNA staff members because some were not rehired under this scheme.

Those separated were given the necessary separation pay, but they could not be replaced due to the "freeze or no hiring" policy accompanying the Executive Order on the reorganization. There was even an attempt by some officials of the Aquino administration to sell or privatize PNA, but this did not materialize because of the inadequate and obsolete equipment of the agency.

Before the outbreak of the 1986 People Power Revolt, PNA had provincial and regional bureaus in at least 20 sites across the country plus 11 branches overseas, including in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Chicago, Sidney, Jeddah, Toronto, Texas and Honolulu.

The number of provincial bureaus was reduced while the foreign branches were shut down due to cost-cutting measures after the change of administration.

The "freeze hiring" policy was in effect until the early part of the Ramos administration in 1994. This was the main reason why when veteran journalist Rodolfo T. Reyes was appointed as press secretary in April 1993 by Ramos, he threatened to close down PNA because of reports he had received that it was not performing its functions well.

Reyes just changed his mind after he was told by the PNAers about the true reasons. Instead of carrying out his threat, he saw to it that the computerization of the PNA operations be pushed ahead and requested President Ramos to allow PNA to hire additional personnel.

PNA's computerization was completed in 1996 through loans from the French government. It was in that year that PNA transferred to the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Bldg. along Visayas Ave. in Quezon City. (PNA)

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