Features

Long live, Mabuhay

By: Chrissa Anne B. Palma

Some people say print media is dying. But Mabuhay Newspaper proves otherwise.

In this era wherein social media is accepted as a source of news, it is inevitable to have people thinking that scanning online news is more convenient than reading a newspaper in hand. Key word, scanning.

Whereas, people with enough time in their hands prefer to have a newspaper as their source of daily news, and entertainment. They know the difference between reading a tip found in online news from reading a detailed story in papers.

Mabuhay is aware and conscious of it. Aware in a way that they know that the competition against social media is tough. But they are also conscious, and so they make sure to give the highest form of service to their readers.

For more than thirty years, Mabuhay has been publishing thousand of copies weekly in an industry that is supposed to be dying. But, Mabuhay is here, long-standing and continous in gaining reconginition from award-giving bodies such as National Press Club.

Mabuhay is written in formal Filipino language and in a change-loving generation, it maintained the traditional form and size of a newspaper outline way back from before.

Aside from the beauty and eye-catching appearance of Mabuhay, the news stories inside are also reader friendly – neat in the eye and more understandable because it uses our own language. The news are also well-written, that you may overlook some typographical errors and some lost wrong grammar in the headlines. A proof that despite the flaws, they are still overpowered by the articulate news story, thanks to the newspapers’ well-trained journalists.

Philippines needs more newspapers like Mabuhay – credible, creative and easily understood. So, long live, Mabuhay!

Joe Clemente opens doors to the past

By: Chrissa Anne B. Palma

Joe Clemente, a Bulakenyo art enthusiast gave the Journalism students from Bulacan State University a trip to the past through opening the gates of Ciudad Clemente, a resort and a museum in Paombong, Bulacan that has been an ancestral house for 75 years.

The museum is sheltering thousands of art pieces and antiques that are more than a hundred years old. The values of these pieces are as precious as they are. This is the reason why Clemente has yet to open the doors to his private collection.

“For security,” Clemente answered when asked why he has yet to open the room that leads to his reserved collection of antiques. “Pero darating din `yong panahon na bubuksan ko sa publiko ang private collection ko. Hindi pa lang ako handa ngayon,” he said.

Clemente favors collecting antiques over the modern designs and architectures this generation could offer because he believes that the past era is timeless, and that one must always remember his roots.

“May kasabihan tayo na “ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi makakarating sa paroroonan,” Clemente said.

The art enthusiast also added that he wanted his fellow Bulakenyos to love their heritage through the arts he collects that show the Filipino culture way back in the past eras such as the Spanish time.

Because of the long history of the ancestral house, Clemente is strict when it comes to the restoration of the place because its architecture couldn’t be taken lightly, thus he monitors every material that is being used in the renovation.

Though Clemente is yet to show the world his own private collection of his antiques, he said that he is working on a book about it.