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900 BCE
Pre-colonial traces
During the pre-colonial period, the most notable discovery of the ancient alphabet called alibata or baybayin was used. There was also the umalohokan or the town crier whose major role was to go around the barangay and announce important information that concerns the citizenry. This was the ancient counterpart of today's broadcaster. -
Books, Magazines, and Newspapers in the Philippines
Books, magazines, and newspapers were brought to the Philippines by the ancient colonizers, mostly printed in a language that not everybody in the archipelago could speak. In 1811, the first newspaper in the country, Del Superior Govierno, was established. -
La Solidaridad
La Solidaridad, the most popular nationalistic newspaper in 1889, was established. -
The First Telephone System
In 1890, the first telephone system of the country began its operations, and the whole archipelago enjoyed this system of information and communication exchange. -
Short Films in the Philippines
A Spanish soldier named Carlo Naquera, with the cinematographe, brought several Spanish-language short films and showed them to select audiences during 1897. -
The Manila Times
In 1898, The Manila Times, one of the long-running newspapers in the country, was established. -
Radio Station in the Philippines
American businessman Henry Herman first operated a small radio station in 1922 to serve as a product demonstration media for his business called the Electrical Supply Company. -
Comics in the Philippines
When the American comics arrived in the 1940s, it became a combined art form that many Filipinos loved as it was somehow a cross between paintings, films, and literary stories -
Martial Law
During martial law in 1972, then-president Ferdinand Marcos's first moves were to suppress press freedom which forced the brightest journalists underground and even jailing some of them. Some newspapers were allowed to reopen but their slant was always pro-dictatorship and pro-government. -
Manila Bulletin
In 1990, the Manila Bulletin which was also one of the long-running newspapers in the Philippines was established. -
Dalagang Bukid Film
The very first Filipino-produced film, Jose Nepomuceno's "Dalagang Bukid" was actually a movie adaptation of a popular musical stage play created by Hermogenes Ilagan. -
Local Online Media
The Philippines officially connected to the world of internet on March 1994. On August 1994, the first commercial internet service provider was launched by Mosaic Communications, making it possible for Filipinos to go online.
