It was more or less 30 years ago when a ragtag local community newspaper called Ang Kinampay News hit the streets in Tagbilaran City. On June 17, 1984, Ang Kinampay News started its maiden publication. The editor-in-chief was Celso Thomas “Chito” Fuentes, yours truly as news editor and Francisco “Ric” Obedencio as managing editor. Ang Kinampay News published by Marietta Corales was supposed to be the alternative newspaper in Bohol at a time that the late strongman was at the highest of his dictatorship. Ang Kinampay News came out with its first issue less than two (2) years before the EDSA revolution.

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Its publisher, Marietta L. Corales, whom we fondly called as “Ma'am Neneng” being our teacher at the then Divine Word College of Tagbilaran (DWCT), tried to picture out the roots of Ang Kinampay News. In the maiden issue of the paper, which we still have a copy as part of our personal compilation, Corales in a featured article wrote: “One day in the third week of May (1984), I savored the rare enjoyment of this scarce commodity, conversation, when a group of students, most of whom are members of the publication of DWCT, came to visit. It happened that one intended to submit the final requirements for a particular subject so he could earn his overdue grade. The others came along for moral support”.

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“One story led to another. The conversation started lightly but later on struck a serious note. Having worked with the Word (the official student publication of DWCT) for a year sparked the desire of these writers to write some more. For them, many thoughts and visions will have to meet with frustration because there is not much opportunity in Bohol for amateur writers like them to find their work in print”, Corales continued. “If only somebody would start a publication… was a hanging statement coming from Celso Thomas Fuentes, editor-in-chief of The Word”, Corales revealed in her item. Corales emphasized that “it was a heavy line, filled with hopeless aspiration. Everybody simply sighed in complete surrender to their poor fate. Nevertheless, they managed to laugh it off knowing that their aspiration will have to remain a dream”.

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Well, it marked the start of Ang Kinampay News. Ma'am Neneng had to contact her husband, Mar Corales, who was based in the Middle East at that time, in order to get the go-signal as the proposed publisher of the paper which was discussed on May 30, 1984. “In less than a week, the humble student group started to work on the necessary requirements for the publication to legally operate. It took them less than a week to finish”, Corales bared in her featured article entitled “The Roots of Ang Kinampay”, found on page 6 of the maiden issue of the paper. Days later, the late Zoilo Dejaresco Jr. wrote in his editorial in the Bohol Chronicle welcoming the addition of Ang Kinampay News into the local media.

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This was the story of the defunct Ang Kinampay News. Yesterday afternoon, its former publisher, Marietta “Neneng” Corales and husband, Mar, marked their 50th golden wedding anniversary in Dao church this city. Their children, Margie, Dodong, Maya and Junjun came all the way from the United States, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands together with their families to join the celebration. We represented the original staff of Ang Kinampay News yesterday during the golden wedding of our former publisher as kumpadres Chito Fuentes and Ric Obedencio are nowhere to be found.

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POSTSCRIPT: The honoring of new lawyers and recognition of those who have been newly-appointed and retired from the justice and judiciary departments will be on Aug. 21 at the Harbor View, Bohol Tropics Resort at 6:30 in the evening. This will be followed by the Bohol Lawyer's Day celebration on Aug. 23. A holy mass will kick off the activity at 8 o'clock in the morning at the HNU Chapel at the Janssen Heights campus while the games and fellowship are scheduled at the Boffo Resort in Barangay Basdio, Sandingan Island in Loon town at 10:30 o'clock in the morning of the same day ....There's more when we come back.