FRONTLINE
By Manuel F. Martinez
LOPE GALICHA: JOURNALIST
Romblon is one of the Philippines' smallest province. It is composed of the country's smallest island, so small that one can walk around them in a matter of a few hours - and still play patintero afterwards, in the moonlit night.Sapatos Island, in the shape of a shoe, could be traveled in five minutes. It is partially submerged during high tide. Tablas is the biggest island, somewhat the size of Alabat and the island-provinces of Marinduque, Camiguin, Siquijor and Guimaras.Its biggest town is Odiongan, the greatest community in Asia, and this is where a good journalist, Lope Galicha, now more than 70 years old, resides in quiet contentment that sometimes qualifies as ecstacy.Recently, he published a 4-page tabloid whose name escapes me at this moment, like the names of tabloids which has graced Romblon's scene infrequently since half-a-century ago. The longest-running newspapaer in Romblon was the Romblon News, also a monthly tabloid, as practically all provinces papers are, whose timespan lasted for a few irregular parched years away back in the early 70', prior to the horrors of martial law.It was edited/published by Lindbergh Maaba of San Agustin, then an active member of the association of provincial press club led by the young Buddy Dacer, who never got employed with the national dailies but who cultivated relationship with them as he was to become a leading public relations practitioner for politicians.There have been about 50 publications in Romblon which sprouted in the last half century, including various rudimentary newsletter run through archaic mimeograph machines.The latest of these was that of Nicon Fameronag, one of Senator Blas Ople's splendid writers.However, he caught the political amoeba while eating raw talaba in Romblon's tiny Carabao Island, adjacent to Boracay.Againts the advise of the wise and otherwise, the brilliant political writer Nicon insisted on jackknifing into the electoral waters as the NPC congressional candidate in the last election. Although triumphant in his patient and understanding hometown of Sibale, he got not so many votes in the province-wide total that it was not considered advisable for any of his followers to demand a recount.Back to Lope Galicha, he was in the local newspapering since almost 40 years ago, when he put up a hard-hitting, grammatical tabloid with the future Constitutional Convention Delegate Ernesto Ang, one of the truly principled and service-oriented figures in Romblon who, had he remained in politics, would have gained honor for the province in terms of integrity.Among their staffers was Sid Calay, also a talented writer. Because there were no printing presses in Odiongan, Lope Galicha had to come to Manila for the printing of their paper. If you know how hard it was for Romblomanons to come to Manila on the floating coffins in those days, when a passenger for 18 hours had to pretend he was a pig because of the dirt and slime, you would reckon it as the biggest obstacle to publishing in the province.Besides, being a small province, the judicial notices, which are lifeline of local publishing, were so very small in quantity because of the pipsqueak number of judicial cases.But abundant in the town were cases of beer, of which this columnist, then young and without any constraining disease, imbibed a considerable portion along with Romblon College High School Class 1962.So most of the time, publishers lost heart- and their papers kicked the budget, gave up the ghost and shuffled off this mortal coil after a few months or so of dreary existence.This was, naturally, what happened to Lope Galecha's series of staggered and staggering newspapers for 40 ardous years.But his newspapering made comebacks every few years or so, unlike Lazarus who made only one.He is admirable for his fighting spirit, and should be an icon in journalism, because he is the only one in Romblon who has never lost heart inspite of the backbreaking odds.And as I said, only a few months ago he founded another one with the familiar, inevitable imprint, "Vol I, No 1."His wife was the late Mrs. Libertad Festin, while Marijo and Marilou are their daughters. Libertad Festin was from the clan which come out of the couple, the matriarch Francisca Fabon and Euginio Festin, governor of Romblon's provincial revolutionary government which was based in Odiongan during the Philippine American war.The heavily-armed Americans easily conquered the capital town of Romblon, Romblon. But the plucky Odinganons, under Festin and his provincial secretary Luis Firmalo, set up their government and resisted, mainly with bolos and bamboo spears.With superhuman courage that passeth all understanding, they repulsed the American attack from Romblon island twice.On the third assault the vicious American overran them. They arrested the revolutionary leaders, whom they asked why they resisted although Luzon and the big islands had already capitulated.Festin, Firmalo and the rest said the same thing. They were Filipinos and it was their duty to fight for the greatest Filipino town in Asia regardless of odds.The Americans, instead of punishing them, released them.The erstwhile revolutionary governor Euginio Festin, was the father of Leonardo Festin, congressman for Romblon from 1916 to 1946 or an awesome, unrepeatable period of 30 years.Subtract the intervening Japanese Occupation fo three years, and we may say that Leonardo Festin whom the Japaneses hunted because he never collaborated with the japanese and had four sons who were guerillas, was functioning congressman actually for only 27 years.He is this columnist's grandfather.