¡@¡@The president of the Chinese Chamber was Mr. Dee Cheng Chuan (Dee C. Chuan). He was elected chamber president in 1919 and served 6 consecutive terms. It was the era right after the first world war and a period of much development in the financial and business field. Competition for markets was the order of the day and one of the markets was the Philippines. Since the primary occupation of the Chinese in the Philippines being commerce, to remain in competition and to attain growth, sufficient modern business strategy was necessary. To keep up with the times, up-to-date information of changes in the marketplace was needed. This was the rationale behind the establishment of the Chinese Commercial News by Mr. Dee Cheng Chuan.
¡@¡@At that time, the Chinese community was united in the fight against the law for the implementation of western accounting method. At the same period saw the emergence of a long-term financial institution -- the China Banking Corporation. It was a turning-point for the Chinese community in the Philippines and we can say that the Chinese Commercial News was a creation of that era.
¡@¡@ The Chinese Commercial News was published as a monthly for 2 years and 4 months, then it was converted to a daily paper. The last issue as a monthly was February, 1922. The daily paper was advocated by business tycoon Mr. Go Ki Hoc. He gathered capital and established the Chinese Commercial News Publishing Co. The wealthy merchant, Mr. Go Kiek Seng was designated as the business manager and Mr. Young Tiong Sin, treasurer. The daily started in April, 1922. At the beginning, it was only 2 pages with circulation of less than a thousand. Foreign and local news were translated from English papers.
In the first issue, Mr. Yu Yi Tung, the publisher, stated the following editorial policies :
1) Coordinate Chinese organizations
2) Expand overseas business
3) Develop business investments in China
4) Disseminate business knowledge
5) Report business news
6) Improve relationship with the local community
7) Eliminate the class difference between capital and labor
8) Provide leadership for the Chinese community
9) Encourage the improvement of education for the local Chinese
10) Support political reforms in China
¡@¡@ Five years after the establishment of the daily, it came out with the first pictorial among Chinese newspapers. In 1933, a weekly magazine was added. The contents of the daily continued to improve in quantity and quality.
The men behind the Chinese Commercial News have been steadfast in the principle of "no side, no party" (unbiased and non-partisan).
¡@¡@In the 77 years of its existence, it has suffered false accusations and attacks from cliques many times. It has weathered the test of history. Each time it was vindicated and truth revealed. As early as 1935, on the 15th anniversary of the paper, Mr. Yu Yi Tung wrote thus "The paper since its establishment has met trials, suffered attacks."all happened because "There is deep differences of opinion in the Chinese community. No clear differentiation of right and wrong. For a time, there were many false accusations against the paper. The paper maintained its principles, struggling in the face of difficulties, not intimidated by force or adverse circumstances. So that those with ulterior motive were unmasked and people of principle everywhere came to sympathize and love the paper. The Chinese community came to know and trust the paper."
¡@¡@ In the fifty years hence, the paper has established its stand in the Xi-An incident, Japanese war, the divisions in the Chinese community after the war, Korean war, Ruby tower tragedy, mass acquisition of Filipino citizenship, calamity relief, the Vietnam war. In big and small events, the paper has faced false accusations, and each time the paper has remained steadfast to its principle of fairness. Each incident was overcome. As Mr. Yu Yi Tung said, each incident allowed the Chinese community to develop its trust.
¡@¡@When world war II started, the Japanese troops entered Manila on December 1941. The publisher of the Chinese Commercial News, Mr. Yu Yi Tung refused to follow the demand to publish the paper as a propaganda organ of the Japanese. He paid the price with his life. The newspaper was confiscated and closed. When the allied forces liberated Manila in 1944, nothing was left of the paper. But on the following year, on April 15, the date of Mr. Yu Yi Tung*s martyrdom, the paper resumed publication. This disruption of publication lasted for 3 years and 4 months.
¡@¡@After world war II, the paper resumed publication without financial or material resources. With the hard work of the Yuyitung brothers and sister, Tiong Seng (Quintin), Tiong Kieng (Rizal), Un Hui (Helen ) and Tiong Nay, and the help of faithful colleagues such as Mr. Yeh Hsieh Min and Mr. Tan Cho Tok the paper was able to regain its glorious past. In the 60*s, the paper became the largest circulation Chinese language daily. The pictorial, the weekly magazine were also restored. In addition, the Manila Directory of Trade and Commerce was published. During this period, the prime movers of the papers were jailed twice. Yet the paper did not ceased publication because of the bravery and faithfulness of its colleagues and loyalty of its thousands of readers. When the Yuyitung brothers were forcibly deported to Taiwan, the volunteer legal team in the Chinese Commercial News case took up its cudgels. Mr. Juan Quijano acted as publisher and the other lawyers, Joker P. Arroyo, Juan T. David, Napoleon Rama took over as editors. Circulation and advertising increased. Not intimidated by the deportation of the Yuyitung brothers to Taiwan, the paper continued as the leader and advocate of the Chinese community. This continued until September 21, 1972 when President Marcos declared martial law. The paper was closed and stopped publication just as other Philippine media.
¡@¡@The people's power revolution of February 25, 1986, brought down the Marcos dictatorship and sent Marcos into exile in the U.S. The ensuring political freedom saw the return of almost all the pre-martial law English newspapers and media. The Chinese Commercial News was the only pre-martial law Chinese-language paper to resume publication. On Philippine Independence day, June 12, 1986, it returned to meet its many readers.
