July 26, 2010 is exactly nine months since I left the comforts of home and the company of family and friends to seek my fortunes in a foreign land, where the heat is punishing and the humidity is suffocating. But aside from that piece of personal feat (which means no more than the fact that I only have 15 months to go before I finish my two-year contract), today is also a special day in that News Express, the first and until recently the only bilingual newspaper in the region, will be celebrating its 22nd anniversary of bringing news and information to the people of Western Visayas.

News Express, more than the other newspapers in which I spent the better part of my 10 years as a journalist, is closest to my heart. When I left the Daily Headlines back in October of 2005, it was the first to offer me a job. While I have then went on to secure another employment days after I resigned from DH, the itch of writing or going after the news on a regular basis, which I have then been doing for the last six years, is too great to just whisk away. I then felt I need a newspaper which would sate such an itch but which will not require me to turn in the usual amount of time, something that I don’t have the luxury of at that time.

My four years with News Express is entirely eventful, to say the least. I have an ever-supportive publisher in Ma’am Bebot Malones, who gave me her full trust and confidence right on Day 1 of my employment as editor. The same also goes to Mayor Mar Malones, whose support during my stint as NE editor is truly remarkable.

Boss Reming, a compadre being the godfather of my second son, never questioned my decisions during the few times when I need to exercise my discretion, and was totally behind me in the face of threats of libel charges from those who have been subject of our acerbic yet totally justifiable commentaries.

And there’s the NE family—editor Jun Tillaflor, reporters Lovella and Erwin, computer layout artists Reyle and Carl, secretary Pingping, stripper Rebecca and the others who like me spent fleeting time with NE—who all made me feel at home always, sometimes getting out of their way to make work a lot easier for me.

Somehow, my four years with NE is a lot better compared to my six years with the other two newspapers I previously worked with because NE gave me room to grow and improve; it gave me the freedom to make decisions and the confidence that they will be there backing and propping me up come what may.

To the men and women of News Express—and I would like to believe I am still a part of it, congratulations for yet another milestone in your storied history as clearly the best alternative newspaper in the whole of Western Visayas. Through the years, you have proven yourself up to your mandate of providing news and information to the people of Western Visayas , in the process empowering them to make informed and intelligent decisions crucial to their everyday existence.

I doff my hat to all of you guys! Mabuhay kita tanan!