6 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010
25 YEARS
Service loyalty awardees take a bow
W
HO WOULD have
thought that a day
like this would
come for us? All of a sudden
the INQUIRER is 25 years old!
And to think that when this
paper first hit the streets, the
newsboys could not even
pronounce its name. So,
they called out, “bagong di-
ario, bagong diario.”
Time sure flies when you’re hav-
ing fun. Sure, there was much work
for the INQUIRER to do.
There was the seemingly endless
chasing after those two big
words—justice and freedom.
There were murders on the tar-
mac and many other hidden places
to be investigated, if not solved.
Fun begins now by the light of a silvery moon
THE PHILIPPINE Daily Inquirer’s
silver anniversary bash on Dec. 1
was “Showtime” all the way.
The employees themselves
simply made it so very show biz
putting on their dancing shoes
and their thespian talents, singing
prowess, and lots of guts and gall.
From cheers and guffaws billow-
ing out of the Rizal ballroom of
the Makati Shangri-La, a passerby
will find it hard to believe that the
frolickers are running a daily, seri-
ous newspaper.
It was time to let one’s hair
down, and it’s simply amazing
how that happened. Five teams
from the various departments
dished out numbers to the delight
of the crowd. They acted out their
roles with gusto and bravado and
almost brought the house down.
The dance number by the man-
agers and bosses led by our CEO
CHEERS The cast of
Editorial team-1 whoop it
up after being declared the
grand winner of the night
for a hilarious spoof of
“Showtime.”
MYSTERY LADY Chief
librarian Medy Gregorio
dressed a la Lady Gaga
in a wheelchair almost
brought the house
down. Her backup
dancers include Vangie
Baga-Reyes, Almi Ilagan,
and Eliza Victoria.
PHOTOS : ROMY HOMILLADA, JIM
GUIAO PUNZALAN, RODEL ROTONI,
RICHARD REYES, ARNOLD ALMACEN
PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER TELLING THE FILIPINO STORY TO THE WORLD
INQUIRER president/CEO
Sandy Prieto-Romualdez,
Rizalino L. Alejandrino,
Ramona A. Abad, Lorna T.
Araneta, Jose Ma. D. Nolasco,
Kenneth G. Nuyda, Ma.
Rosalia V. Viray, Leticia J.
Magsanoc, Margarita V. Viray,
Cipriano M. Frias, Stella D.
Panlilio, Edward T. Llantada,
INQUIRER chair Marixi Prieto
There was the surge of discon- 20 YEARS
tent that could not be stopped. From left
There was a dictatorship to dis- INQUIRER
mantle.
There was People Power to stun
president/CEO
Sandy Prieto-
the world. Romualdez,
There was history to be made. Ernesto U.
The history of the INQUIRER, as our Sarmiento, Hugh
founding chair Eggie Apostol will read- R. Jaymalin, Juan
ily tell you, truly began on the tarmac
V. Sarmiento Jr.,
of the Manila International Airport on INQUIRER chair
Aug. 21, 1983. It is no coincidence that
Marixi Prieto, Ma.
we celebrate our 25th today with Ni- Veronica T.
noy’s worthy heir, President Noynoy.
Fernandez,
So we, my fellow awardees and I, Josefina A. Dela
feel very sentimental about today.
Cruz, Roy T.
But we’re also in the mood to party. Sarmiento,
After the turmoil and the tumult the
Carina G. Rivera,
INQUIRER has had to go through, we INQUIRER
feel so very entitled to have fun. So,
publisher Isagani
let the fun begin... Yambot
Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc
and president Sandy Prieto-Ro-
mualdez set the pace. They pro-
vided the spark, so the employees
simply let go, if not went wild.
All participating teams have
had their moment, but the grand
winner for the night was the Edi-
torial group which did a spoof of
ABS-CBN’s “Showtime.” Chief
librarian Medy Gregorio drew
the biggest cheer with a Lady
Gaga gig, and ably complement-
ed by hilarious acts by the other
cast members, notably Junior In-
quirer’s Ruth Navarra as Kris
Aquino and INQUIRER senior re-
porter Fe Zamora as Charice.
Who says journalists, editors,
researchers, photographers,
and production guys from the
country’s No. 1 newspaper can’t
have fun? They proved it during
one memorable night by the SYMPHONY IN BLUE The INQUIRER Choir, wearing an Auggie Cordero designed gowns and barong, regaled the guests with their songs.
light of a silvery moon.
IT ROCKS INQUIRER president/CEO Sandy Romualdez (2nd from left) and chair Marixi Prieto
(center) lead a dance number by top management that set the pace for a fun night.
ALL PERFORMERS, like this team from the Finance department, did their roles with lots of
gall and guts and showed outsiders PDI employees know how to party.