Growing up, I remember sharing the newspaper with my family over breakfast. My dad would scan the front page before settling in to read the main section, while my mom and aunt exchanged the other sections with each other. I always reached for the lifestyle pages, drawn to the features, layout and large photos.
It was therefore such a big thrill for me to see my first story come out in the pages of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, not when I joined the company almost a decade ago, but way back when I was still in college in the early ’90s.
My journalism professor at the Ateneo de Manila University was Doreen Gamboa Fernandez. One of the assignments she gave us was to write an essay for the Inquirer where she was its preeminent food columnist. She would then turn them over to her editor, Llita Logarta, who would decide which of the student-written essays to publish.
I still have the clipping somewhere, probably all yellowed and brittle by now. “How to spend P50 at the mall” factored in round-trip nonaircon bus fares, a movie (P16 at SM Megamall in 1992, if memory serves) and a snack (bola-bola siopao at Goldilocks or a vegetarian dish at Bodhi). I wrote what I knew, and somehow it was one of the first ones published.
I still feel a thrill when my stories come out, and have several clear books full of clippings of my articles as proof. As the Inquirer marks its 36th anniversary this year, I asked several subscribers why they have stayed on, what their favorite sections are and what they look forward to reading more of in the paper.
For decades
Violeta Chan has been a loyal subscriber for decades now. “I was already reading Inquirer during Cory’s time,” she said.
Her favorite section is Opinion, and she looks forward to reading the weekly columns of Randy David and Solita Monsod. She also likes reading Chit Roces’ column in Lifestyle, and the entertainment pages.
“I read the Young Blood column as well because the stories are ‘true to life,’ very relatable,” Chan said. She now gets most of her news from the TV and online but cannot bear to part from her weekend habit of reading the actual paper. Asked if she was willing to shift to digital, Chan said she was open to it.
“I’d also like to read more stories in Lifestyle’s senior section. I miss reading Conchita Razon’s column,” she said.
Even before Eugenia “Eggie” Apostol co-founded the Inquirer in 1985, Evelyn Juan was already one of her followers. A former government employee, Juan clipped and kept articles from Apostol’s weekly Mr. & Ms. magazine, particularly those that deftly tackled critical issues of the day.
“I still have my collection that includes analyses of the political environment then,” Juan said. “I would use them as reference material when I conducted workshops and seminars as part of my job.”
Once Inquirer started publishing on Dec. 9, 1985, she made it a point not to miss out on a single issue.
“I would buy a copy every day. My favorite sections are Opinion, World and local news.” When the pandemic prevented her from venturing outdoors, she had to forego her daily dose of news. Juan now gets her fix online through the Inquirer Plus app (download from the Apple Store or Google Play). Reading the paper online may have taken some getting used to but now she’s gotten the hang of it.
“I especially like that when I click on the ‘blue strips’ (of the headlines), I get the reader-friendly version,” Juan said.
Family habit
Reading the Inquirer is also a habit of the family of Claude Lucas C. Despabiladeras. The voice talent and teacher said that they’ve been subscribers since the late 1980s.
Reading the paper did not interest him when he was younger, but his mother would read her favorite pieces to him and his siblings over breakfast. She encouraged them to read Young Blood as well.
It took years before he turned into a reader.
“My loyalty grew when I got published In Young Blood in 2003. Respect for the paper grew and grew as I continued to read it, especially the editorials and columnists. The writing is excellent and inspiring, and I agree with the paper’s stand on many important issues,” he said.
Despabiladeras regularly contributes to the Opinion page. Getting published always makes him proud, he said.
He still gets the paper delivered to his house every day, but he no longer limits reading the Inquirer to print. He accesses his favorite section, Opinion, through his phone whenever he’s out.
Entrepreneur Jules Veloso is a digital native who gets her news online. She also has a print subscription to Inquirer but pairs that with subscriptions to both Inq Plus and the Pressreader app.
“For articles that are ‘digital only’ exclusives, I log on to Inq Plus,” Veloso said.
“I like Pressreader because aside from getting Inquirer, I also have access to local and foreign publications. I enjoy seeing how the stories are laid out. It’s leisure reading for me.”
Her go-to local newspaper? “It’s always been the Philippine Daily Inquirer,” she said.
