History of Philippine press / Carson Taylor.

History of the Philippine Press

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Subscriptions were cancelled by the dozens, much to the
disgust of Pazo, who saw his property diminishing. In the
end he endeavored to build up the paper" by supporting the
Frailes.
"The Spaniards were blind to what was actually taking place in the country. Occurrences that were considered
of little significance were later seen to be of great importance. There were two young Filipinos of Spanish parentage on the staff of La Opinion, whom no one suspected had
the least sympathy with the national sentiment which was
being secretly developed by the native societies, stimulated
by Rizal's novel, etc. When I joined the staff they resigned.
Neither Pazo nor myself appreciated the significance of the
fact that two Filipinos, though of Spanish blood, had refused to work with me, the satirical Retana, who had so
cruelly treated the natives who had liberal aspirations.
"I worked like a negro, and suffered many bitter attacks, especially from one Salcedo, who ridiculed me as an
object of contempt, until January 1, 1890, when Pazo sold
the paper to Juan Atayde, a retired army officer, when I
resigned and joined the staff of La Voz de Espafia.
"Atayde purchased the weekly La Espaia Oriental and
combined it with La Opinion as a Sunday supplement. He
soon demonstrated that he knew nothing about the newspaper business. He secured the services of Camilo Millan
as editor. The latter was a radical anti-Indio and continually
attacked them, calling attention to their vices and shortcomings. About this time the anonymous handbills of Isabelo de los Reyes advocating reforms of various natures
were appearing and provoked the ire of Millan to such an
extent that he went beyond all bounds of decency in his attacks on the natives.
"Atayde changed the policy of the paper then and
endeavored to build it up, trying to carry water on both
shoulders, by flattering the more prominent of both the
'peninsulares' and the 'insulares' with the result that La
Opinion soon ceased publication. It was re-established in
1890 under the name of El Eco de Filipinos.
"The Friar's paper, La Voz de Espaia, did not prosper
under the radical editorship of Alfonso Maseros. He retired and was succeeded by Jose de la Rosa. The paper was
reorganized in 1892 and the name changed to La Voz
Espanola, under the ownership and management of Federico and Antonio Hidalgo. Its slogan was, "The Philippines
by Spain and for Spain," and it favored the rapid extension
of the Spanish language and Spanish culture. Many Friars