Batangas papers

A friend who is into public relations recently asked me for a list of Batangas papers. She was exploring the possibility of promoting her client’s product in Batangas publications.

Sure, I said. Armed with a list of Batangas papers that I culled from the Web, I go to the nearest newsstand in the neighboring barangay and find out that they do not carry Batangas papers. Nor do four newspaper vendors at the public market in the city proper. One newspaper vendor on the same road as the weekly “Sun.Star People’s Courier” tells me they ran out of stock. “They don’t print a lot,” he explains.

Of the four I find in circulation, "Sun.Star People's Courier"
 is the longest-running paper, while "Dyaryo Balisong"
has just come out with its maiden issue. 

When asked why they do not carry Batangas papers, they say, “hindi mabenta (they don’t sell)”, “walang bumibili (no one buys it)”. One in the public market offers, “Di umaabot yan dito. Konti lang kasi. (Just a few copies are printed so they’re sold out by the time we get our stock)”

So what do they sell? National dailies and tabloids. The tabloids outsell the national dailies, they say. I find them strung up on a wire like laundry set out to dry – “Remate”, “Abante”, “Bulgar”,“Pilipino Star Ngayon”, “People’s Journal”, “People’s Tonight”, “Tiktik”, “Tempo”, etc. and etc. 

At least two ask me why I want a Batangas paper. “It’s an assignment,” I offer briefly. One helpful soul, convinced it's my child’s school assignment, tells me to try Clarin’s Bookstore or Perez Bookstore where she gets her stock. 

I find “Headline News Today”, “Dyaryo Veritas” and the newly-minted “Dyaryo Balisong” at Clarin’s. Aside from “Headline News Today”, Perez also sells “Sun.Star People’s Courier”. I point at a copy of “Balikas” but am told that it's no longer in circulation. Only Perez delivers upon request, and only to established, economically-feasible paper routes.

To get a national daily or tabloid in Batangas, you have to go out and buy one at the nearest newsstand. To buy a Batangas paper, you have to go to any of these outlets in the city proper: Clarin’s, Perez, Avababes Printing and Trading, Pamela Pasia Store and Ka Susan.

Community papers are interesting because they reflect not only what’s happening, but also the needs, thinking, mentality and culture of its market. But in Batangas, they are elusive. Only two – “Sun.Star People’s Courier” and “Headlines News Today” have online sites, while “”Dyaryo Veritas” and “Dyaryo Balisong” have facebook accounts that do not reveal much.

The printed paper is very much threatened by the advent of the Internet. But handled and managed right, it is a medium that can keep communities in touch with home. They contain news, events, opinions and even ads that are local and significant to its readers, as well as national content that are relevant.

This is why I bookmark the Sun.Star Cebu online site, like it on Facebook and follow it on Twitter, despite the fact that it’s been over 10 years since I left Cebu. It keeps me “local” and up-to-date when I talk to family and friends back home.

I am sure that Batanguenos, who’ve left their homes for work or for some other reason, feel the same way especially if they have family still living in Batangas. This is why I encourage Batangas weeklies to make themselves more available, if not physically, then through Web technology.