Daily Tribune‘Art and fashion is a perfect vehicle for the 25th anniversary to focus on and spotlight... There’s an ongoing renaissance if you’re going to look at the designers, repurposing and recycling a lot of materials into something really beautiful.’
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DAILY TRIBUNE executive vice president Chingbee Fernandez and DAILY TRIBUNE president and publisher Willie Fernandez.
Filmmaker and photographer Gabriel Malvar.
A Ga’dang musician plays the paliot (flute) to signal a new day in Simmacbot, Paracelis, Mountain Province. Photo by Gabriel Malvar.
Salcedo Auctions, DAILY TRIBUNE and fashion designer Jor-el Espina celebrate important milestones as cultural innovators.
Although they come from different backgrounds, Salcedo Auctions, DAILY TRIBUNE and Jor-el Espina share a spirit of vanguardism that enabled them to overcome challenges and become dominant forces in their respective fields. All three will mark important milestones this Sunday, 20 July, in a joint three-part celebration of art, fashion and journalistic excellence at Salcedo Auctions’ NEX Tower gallery.
It is undoubtedly a special occasion, with friends from Manila’s social set, the fabulously fashionable, established collectors and representatives from the diplomatic and business sectors expected to attend in support of the celebrators. In this special Q&A feature, Salcedo Auctions’ Richie and Karen Lerma, Jor-el Espina and DAILY TRIBUNE’S president Willie Fernandez and executive vice president Chingbee Fernandez share their inspiring journeys and future plans.
DAILY TRIBUNE: 25 years of journalistic excellence
When you took on the newspaper business, what were your hopes and misgivings?
EVP Chingbee Fernandez: “Willie has hopes. I have misgivings. [Laughs.] Willie reads the newspaper all the time. It was basically a leap of faith. We support him, and that’s why we’re here. So whatever are those hopes and misgivings, you fuse them together — that’s why we are together.”
What do you think kept the DAILY TRIBUNE going for 25 years now considering the changes in the media industry?
Fernandez: “It’s basically the innovation and the evolution, both the people and the paper itself. Let’s admit it, there are so many good people out there and the other news companies are equally good. For it to survive 25 years, it is because it is able to evolve. Of course, also worth noting is the commitment of the journalists who work with DAILY TRIBUNE.”
How do you see your role today as a leading influence in the media industry?
Fernandez: “I think it has not changed. It is to be as the same seeker of truth, to check the facts, to run the news and not to be the spin masters, spinning the story so you do not know whether it’s fake or not. So that’s its role today and tomorrow. A source of factual stories. Source of facts.”
What have been some of the gains you’ve made in transforming DAILY TRIBUNE into what it is today?
Fernandez: “Its transformation into a multimedia platform… to be an integrated media. So we have digital, which is already making waves. The public is taking notice. The transformation of DAILY TRIBUNE from print to multimedia platform.”
How do you see the future of DAILY TRIBUNE?
Fernandez: “DAILY TRIBUNE will be here 25 to 50 years from now as long as we stay true to our motto — we write the news as we see it. And of course, without bias.”
Why did you decide to focus on art, fashion and economic circularity for your anniversary event?
Fernandez: “Willie is an art enthusiast. In this time and age… people could be bitter with regards to their beliefs and politics. Very violent. For our 25th year, we thought, why not focus on something that will unite us, that for some people, will bring joy? Instead of making them read something that would anger them? There’s this certain calmness and joy from the event...
“If I may borrow from the former First Lady Imelda Marcos, she said that ‘A nation without art or culture is one without soul.’ We believe in that. Art and fashion is a perfect vehicle for the 25th anniversary to focus on and spotlight... There’s an ongoing renaissance if you’re going to look at the designers, repurposing and recycling a lot of materials into something really beautiful. So, I think, why not support that sort of renaissance in Philippine fashion? Like right now, there’s so much flooding because people throw trash... what goes around comes around.
“We’re the only signatory of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We’re trying to highlight that role in media so we could underscore it so people will take notice and apply in their own lives.”
For DAILY TRIBUNE’s 25th year, why did you choose to feature Gabriel Malvar’s works as part of the collaborative event?
Fernandez: “Gabby is the poster boy of the immense talent that we have but is less spotlighted. Unfortunately, they don’t have enough opportunity to showcase their talent. They’re just lying there. People do not notice the person or individual who can shine a lot on our treasures. For his subjects, you have to climb several mountains or walk to reach them. Their crafts are being used in fashion, but they are the less-heralded; people do not know them.
“Gabby focuses on the people behind the material finished. I think, as I said, less-known personalities in his travels, that’s why we thought perhaps it’s about time to showcase his artistry in this anniversary.”
