THE Cagayan de Oro Press Club, Inc. (COPC), probably the best-established media organization in the country, marks its 50th foundation anniversary this year.

It was in the evening of November. 11, 1951 when it was organized in Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao. It was actually an informal gathering of pioneer Cagayan de Oro media practitioners, mostly from two local weekly newspapers--the The Mindanao Star and the Ang Katarungan, and Henry Canoy who was then struggling hard to build a radio station out of discarded US Army surplus broadcast equipment.

They were assembled at the residence of Virginia Paraiso who used to write a society column for The Mindanao Star, an old unpainted two-story colonial house on Corrales Avenue and approximately where the Department of Trade and Industry building now stands. Mrs. Paraiso's husband, Engr. Juan Paraiso, was later handpicked by the late Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay to serve as secretary of public works during his term. Johnny, a migrant here from Northern Luzon with his wife who was also an Ilocana, was appointed in a most unceremonious but colorful manner. In fact, he was sworn in first in an unscheduled ceremony at the Lumbia airport as President Magsaysay was returning to Manila from a visit to the volcano-devastated island of Camiguin.

The gathering of newsmen and budding writers was there, not actually to get organized as a press club but to help eat the lechon and other sumptuous preparations of Mrs. Paraiso who was celebrating her birthday. The scene was a small unfenced front lawn in the Paraiso home lighted by five or six 50-watt electric bulbs strung over makeshift posts because there was very little garden vegetation to hang them to. It had rained in the early afternoon, and the grassy earth was still wet and soft, but a full moon began to peek out of thick clouds in the sky.

There were some 30 or 40 straight-backed chairs arranged classroom style in the middle of the garden, and long narrow tables up front containing the buffet of goodies. There was no blaring music as modern-day parties have, but there was animated conversation among the guests frolicking in rum lubricated elan.

Not that it was a complete gathering of local newsmen and writers, the late Rodrigo Lim, publisher and editor of bomba-style news pamphlet called Ang Sidlak, was notably not in the group. There was a "war" between him and Joe Burgos, publisher-editor of The Mindanao Star, which broke out of political involvement by both of them and they squirted literary venom at each other through their respective newspapers.

As the evening wore on, someone developed the idea of getting organized. I think it was Bien Cruz, then publisher of the Pioneer Press newspaper in Cebu, which was just terrorized to death by the Cuenco political "bongotons" at that time driving Bien and his brother, Fred, to leave Cebu in a hurry. They came south. Fred Cruz, who later continued his law studies here and became a lawyer, also became editor of The Mindanao Star and president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club, (COPC) in 1959. He was not in the Paraiso party but he was then trying to organize the Cagayan de Oro Rotary Club as Bien was organizing the all-male Cagayan de Oro Jaycees.

Perhaps carried away by their successes in forming two every enthusiastic civic organizations here, Bien had suggested to Henry Canoy the formation of a Cagayan de Oro Press Club, and the reaction from Ginny Paraiso and Joe Burgos was an excited "Why Not?" Thereupon, Bien stood up front and behind the skeletal remains of the lechon to call a meeting to order.

Beside Henry, Joe, and Ginny were Manuel V. Quisumbing, editor of Ang Katarungan; Eustaquio Gonzales, representing Don Vicente Neri San Jose, publisher of the Ang Katarungan. (The name Ang Bag-ong Katarungan was coined during martial law (1972) by Augusto "Totoy" Neri, who inherited it from his father.) Jose EF Reyes, father of Edmund Reyes of the Philippine Movement for Press Freedom, Cesario Gaane, associate editor of The Mindanao Star, Carmelito Cataylo, editorial writer of The Mindanao Star, and this writer who was a cub reporter for Joe Burgos. Right then and there, after unanimous decision to declare ourselves a Club, we nominated and elected officers: Ginny Paraiso, president; Bien Cruz, vice president; Joe Burgos, secretary; Ciling Gaane, treasurer and so on. We didn’t have another meeting for two years after that.

In 1952, due to some business reverses, Joe Burgos sold The Mindanao Star, lock-stock-and-barrel and acting editor (me, Noli Olarte) also thrown in into the deal along with the printing equipment, and everyone seemed too preoccupied in his own economic struggle to have even time to think of the Press Club.

In 1953, I then saw my first term as president of the young club. That was when things became very lively. They elected one unanimously in a general meeting at the old China Restaurant (beside Lyric Theater which is now Nation Theater at downtown Cagayan de Oro), which some members described "unanimous." They reasoned that I paid a bowl full of pancit mami for everybody. The club began to grow as more young people were attracted to the glamour of the profession. Names such those of Cip and Fil Apolinario, Mario Macaranas, Frank Montevirgen, Wendy Lackar, Patricia Pilosa, Pureza Ramos and others began to blossom in the domestic writing profession starting '53 and '54; Guido Ongpin in '56 after graduating from the Massachusette's Institute of Journalism, and many others.

My first term as president was for two years, Manoling Quisumbing was elected next, but he held the presidency for only one year because Ongpin won the 1956 term. In 1956, I was back in harness. I was president again, and it was during this term that I decided to do something worthwhile and permanent for the club. I launched a very ambitious plan to build a headquarters for the club, starting with the acquisition of some real estate for the purpose.

Shortly after this, the Press Club began negotiations for a small piece of the provincial-capitol compound with then Misamis Oriental Gov. Vicente B. de Lara whom we befriended so closely for the purpose; he also took me in as his public relations officer two years later. However, it was his successor, the late Gov. Alfonso Dadole, who later became father-in-law of former Assemblyman Homobono Adaza, who finally approved the donation along with the blessings of the provincial board at that time.

But it turned out that the approval of the governor and the provincial board was not sufficient to make the donation legal. It had to have the imprimatur of the President of the Philippines, according to law. The Club took it as main task to obtain such an approval.

It was not difficult for the Club to obtain the President's signature. There was not even a question asked when we went to Malacañang to get it. "Mabuhay kayo" that's what he said as he handed back the papers that made the Cagayan de Oro Press Club a permanent owner of piece of God's own golden acre which is this city.

The construction of the COPC building started in 1964. We had invited no less than then Senate President Ferdinand Marcos to lay the cornerstone on August 10, 1964. It was here and in that occasion that he launched his campaign for the presidency. With the help of well-meaning city residents, among them the late Dr. Blas Velez, the late Don Nemesito Chaves, the late Don Mariano Velez Sr., the late businessmen Felix Caburian, the late Virgilio V. Neri and many others, and the fund raising efforts of our treasurer then, Sarah A. Velez, we were able to put up the foundation and the general framework of the building before I got elected to the presidency of the Federation of Provincial Press Clubs of the Philippines in 1966. It was when Rueben Canoy became the city mayor of Cagayan de Oro and Corazon Calub was club president in 1970 that things got moving again.

They had hocked the building on a 20-year build-operate-transfer sort of deal and which had fortunately expired on schedule in 1991. An annex building was constructed in 1976. 0n the same proposition and the contract expired in 1996.