TODAY IN FILIPINO HISTORY: 11 October 1898 — Businessman Thomas Gowan, an Englishman who has been living for years in Filipinas, establishes The Manila Times to meet a growing demand for an English-language newspaper in Manila.
The Manila Times was founded shortly after news came out that the Treaty of Paris would be signed (it was to be signed two months later, on December 10, which would end the Spanish-US War and transfer Filipinas from Spanish to US sovereignty).To put up the paper, Gowan hired a small printing press, Chofre y Compañía, which was located on Calle Alix (now Legarda Street) in Sampáloc. But its downtown office was at Calle Escolta in Binondo.The first issue of The Manila Times had only four pages measuring about 12 by 8 inches, with each page divided into two columns. Below was its first editorial:
Since the United States forces have been in the Philippines, there has been a keen demand for an American newspaper here with a daily supply of American news. Several schemes have been talked about, but we have come to nothing. We have not talked about The Manila Times but we have been working, and hoped to complete the arrangements in a few days. Now we have the news of such importance that we feel compelled to publish it promptly, instead of holding it back until completion of our plans. The Manila public will readily see that news in this issue [is] of such a nature as to demand immediate publication, and to excuse defects in the manner of publishing. What The manila times lacks in quantity, it makes up in quality, today at any rate. We have made arrangements for a daily service of telegrams from the United States, and we undertake to continue that as long as the public desires. We cannot guarantee to provide as great a piece of news each day as we give today, for Paris Conferences do not sit often, and the United States does not acquire territories every day.
Today, The Manila Times holds the distinction of being the oldest existing English-language newspaper in Filipinas. It is also the country's fourth-largest newspaper in terms of circulation, right behind Philippine Daily Inquirer, MANILA BULLETIN, and Philippine Star.
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