Philippine Daily Inquirer: The Beginning

By JULIO CINCO N.

THE Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) has its roots in the Mr. & Ms. magazine (now defunct), with Eugenia "Eggie" Duran Apostol at the helm. This explains the so-called "Enrile connection" of the paper, especially during its early years, because of the former National Defense chief's rumored investment in the original company (Mr. & Ms. Publishing Company).

      In the aftermath of the Ninoy Aquino assassination in 1983, the opposition against the Marcos dictatorship became widespread and the demand for an alternative press grew stronger. (It must be remembered, however, that early on Jose Burgos, Jr. has blazed the trail of the alternative or mosquito press with his hard-hitting We Forum--raided and closed by the military in 1982--and Malaya papers.)

      In 1985, with the success of the black-and-white weekly Mr. & Ms. Special Edition and the succeeding Philippine Inquirer Weekly the idea for an alternative broadsheet took form. The first few meetings were held at the Mr. & Ms. offices on EDSA (near Boni Avenue in Mandaluyong and the Guadalupe Bridge) and at the Apostols' residence in Dasmarinas Village, Makati.

      The new paper needed its own printing press, more capital and a separate headquarters, and Betty Go-Belmonte came into the picture as co-chair to Eggie Apostol's founding chair. At that time, the Belmontes owned two small presses which the family used in their business to print Bibles and textbooks. It was said then that almost 70 percent of the investment of the PDI was put in by Belmonte, and she was designated concurrently as treasurer.

      Florangel Braid and veteran journalists Max Soliven, Art Borjal and Louie Beltran completed the paper's first inner circle. Thus the Philippine Daily Inquirer was born.

      Preparations for the Inquirer's dry run were first started at the Mr. & Ms. offices on EDSA (with publisher Apostol and some women editors like Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc and Rosario A. Garcellano among others), until the paper settled in the one-storey Star Building (the present office of the Philippine Star) on 14th and Railroad Streets, Port Area, Manila.

      Louie Beltran was named editor-in-chief and the staff of 40 editors, reporters, correspondents, photographers and other editorial employees put out the Inquirer's maiden issue  on December 9, 1985, with 30,000 initial copies. The running joke then at the 100-square-meter newsroom was Joey Nolasco's (Eggie's nephew and PDI's current managing editor) frequent "meditation" over his Olympia typewriter. Allegedly, it took Nolasco hours on end to file his single story for the day, and still miss the deadline. Of course, the huge Beltran would holler from his seat and others shuddered at the sound of his booming voice.

     The contest between "a world-class thief" and "a housewife na walang alam" in the snap election that culminated in the EDSA Revolt in February 1986 took the Inquirer circulation by storm, in a manner of speaking. From 100,000 copies in January 1986 to 250,000 copies shortly before the EDSA Uprising the Inquirer's output continued to soar beyond the 300,000 mark at the height of the EDSA fever. There were times when the Inquirer's circulation was sabotaged, as copies were stolen or confiscated by Marcos men. A newspaper dealer in Quezon City was mauled and newsboys were threatened  because they were selling Malaya and Inquirer.

     But the Inquirer "honeymoon" was short-lived. As the revolution devoured its children, so they say, "After EDSA, questions about finances and divergence of priorities caused a rift among the founders, and Belmonte, Soliven and Art Borjal found themselves on the streets--literally," according to a certain report.

     "Max, Art and Betty walked out to the sidewalks, in front of the STAR Bldg. Betty was the treasurer and co-chairman. And they left the 300 million...," the same report said.

    On June 27, 1986 the Inquirer transferred to the Madrid Restaurant on EDSA ( beside the former Polymedic Hospital and now the Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center)" that Soliven had passed on to the Inquirer (decided on during a board meeting at his home in Greenhills, San Juan), and gave the Inquirer a home after the split."