CEGP: Keeping the Flames of Freedom Alive

75 years ago, a group of campus writers formed the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. It went on to become a vanguard of freedom and patriotism. Last Tuesday night, Davao-based members of the CEGP came together not just to reminisce but to keep the flames of the guild burning.

CEGP members and alumni at the 75th anniversary bash at the Kanto Bar, Matina Town Square. (Click here for more pictures.) davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan

By Cheryll D. Fiel and Tyrone A. Velez
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — It was a special day on the calendar. They could not wait for dusk to come. All roads that night led to Kanto Bar at the Matina Town Square for these individuals who are as diverse as the roles they have assumed now.

Some of them are lawyers, teachers, government employees, NGO workers, political advisers, editors and writers of the dailies, politicians, wives, mothers, fathers, the still-proud-and-crazy-after-all-these-years punks, poets, artists and bohemians by heart.

But that evening was not about who they are, who among them are successful, who arrived in the latest car model, who married whom, who has aged. Forget about that sort of triviality. Because that Tuesday night this week, they were just this: activist-writers eternal.

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5 Comments to “CEGP: Keeping the Flames of Freedom Alive”

1. PinoyPress » CEGP: Keeping the Flames of Freedom Alive says:

   July 30, 2006 at 12:22 pm

   [...] 75 years ago, a group of campus writers formed the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. It went on to become a vanguard of freedom and patriotism. Last Tuesday night, Davao-based members of the CEGP came together not just to reminisce but to keep the flames of the guild burning. (CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY.) [...]
2. megace hernandez says:

   July 31, 2006 at 8:41 am

   hi..

   congratulations to cegp for celebrating its 75th year…my sister was serving as vice pres for mindanao when she was killed in arakan north cotabato in 2002 and until now, even though the process of the case has painfully snail-paced toward justice, cegp (and karapatan) has rang the loudest and most rekindled bells in our hearts.

   yes, such is the fire of activism…that fueled my sister to be who she was and where she was that fateful day of april 2002.

   and yes, her spirit, and that of cegp’s, remains alive in all of us.

   Kudos!

   Justice for Beng Hernandez,
   Justice for all Human Rights victims!

   -Megace Hernandez
3. mareha B. Hussain says:

   August 19, 2006 at 7:35 pm

   mga kasama, ako po ay dating member ng Bayan Muna Cotabato city chapter at unang naging chairperson ng Gabriela youth sa Cotabato City at kami unang nagpatayo kasama ng Bayan Muna Cotabato City Chapter, taong 2001.at former Associate Editor in Chief ng The Torch, sa Cotabato City Polytechnic College. ngaun nandito ako sa Saudi Arabia sa personal na dahilan pero hindi ibig sabihin nakaligtaan ko po un tungkulin ko bilang kasapi sa oragnisasyon. gusto kong mabigayan ng pansin ang mag kalayan ng mga kababaihan dito dahil sa maraming karahasan nararansan di lang sa mga kamay ng mga Arabo pati rin sa mag kapwa filipino, maraming pamumulistiya dahil sa maliit na tingin nila sa maga kababaihan dito. maraming nakaranas dito ng Rape Case pero d nabibigyan ng kasagutan dahil sa natatakot ang mga filipina dito at itoy patuloy na dumarami ang mga ganitong pangyayari.
   sana po mabigyan ng kasagutan ang hinaing namin ito.

   mareha ng Jeddah Saudi Arabia
4. Zenaida Zayco Rodriguez-La Rocque says:

   January 22, 2007 at 2:22 am

   I’m the only daughter of Ernesto R. Rodriguez, Jr. who lives here in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. I’m very proud and happy to see my Dad’s name immortalized with his founding the College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines on his 20th birthday of July 25. I grew up knowing most of his friends and attending the functions sponsored by this organization. He even founded the College Editors’ Guild Alumni Association on my 2nd birthday on February 11, 1951. It’s great to reminisce all the good things he has done and is being carried on by the new generation. More power to the CEGP. All the best.
5. Mareha Hussain says:

   June 11, 2008 at 7:10 pm

   Muli, ako ay nakikisimpatiya sa nangyari na naman sa mga journalist na kinidnap ng mga taong iba ang pananaw at patakaran nila sa buhay, ako’y isang muslim at naging Isang aktibo rin sa larangan ng pagsulat at dating Associate Editor ng The Torch, School Publication ng Cotabato City State Polytechnic College at naging CEGP secretary-general sa cotabato city chapter. Sana po ay may magawa ang goberno natin para pangalagaan ang mga manunulat at sana po un mga kapwa ko muslim na nasa mataas na katungkulan sa goberno ay makagawa ng paraan sa kalutasan at d na maulit itong mga walang katarungan na pagkidnap dahil walang kasalanan ang mga mamamahayag kundi alamin ang katutuhanan at iyon ang ibagay sa taong masa at maging tulay sa pamamagitan ng pagbabalita.