Type Newspaper Publisher Rolando G. Estabillo | Format Broadsheet Managing editors Ramonchito L. Tomeldan | |
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Owner(s) Philippine Manila Standard Publishing, Inc. President Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez | ||
Manila Standard is a broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines. It is currently owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through former congressman Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner of tabloid papers People's Journal and People's Tonight.
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Initially established as the Manila Standard in 1987, it merged with another newspaper of record, Today, on March 6, 2005, and became the Manila Standard Today (MST). In 2015, the newspaper rebranded itself as The Standard (temporarily The New Standard), before reverting to its original name in 2016. The news organization maintains its quality to be one of the trusted news sources in the Philippines.
Background
Rod Reyes, one of the newspaper columnists during the dark era and once manned the operations of GMA Radio Television Arts, planned to put up a newspaper that time. He then invited the family of Spanish-Filipino businessman Manuel Elizalde to be the owners of this new-fledging broadsheet, initially named as Manila Standard and with 19 pages on the first issue. This was founded on February 11, 1987. The offices were then located at the bustling Ayala Avenue in the Makati CBD.
In 1989, the group of companies owned by Andres Soriano III bought out the Elizalde group and renamed the company Kagitingan Publications, and relocated the offices in the Port Area, Manila.
In June 1991, the group of businessman Alfonso Yuchengco bought into the company and spun off the publishing company. It was incorporated as Kamahalan Publishing Corporation. Kagitingan Publications was renamed Kagitingan Printing Press Inc., which continues to print the New Standard.
In 1997, businessman Enrique K. Razon Jr., chairman and president of the International Container Terminal Services Inc., acquired the shares of the Yuchengcos and bought out the Soriano group to become the sole owner of Kamahalan Publishing Corporation and Kagitingan Printing Press Inc.
Victor Agustin took over as chairman of the Editorial Board in 2008. Under his term, the company formally adopted an advocacy for the environment.
In 2010, just as the Aquino administration took the reins of power, ownership of the Manila Standard Today changed hands again. This time, the Razon group sold its interest to the Romualdez group as Razon established Bloomberry Resorts & Hotels Corporation, owner of the Solaire Resort & Casino.
The newspaper once again was relaunched as The Standard, featuring a tallboy broadsheet format that is similar to New York Post. The format is bigger than tabloids and smaller than newspapers, with pictures as the main inset of the front page. The new format was first implemented in the weekend issues before the full makeover happened in the weekday issues since February 23, 2015.
The Standard was named as the Newspaper of the Year during the 2015 Rotary Club of Manila Journalism Awards for its balanced and crucial reporting on current issues, including the exposé story on the involvement of Wang Bo, a Chinese drug lord as the primary suspect in the Bangsamoro Basic Law payola scam.
On July 25, 2016, the paper reverted to its broadsheet format, and it was renamed as Manila Standard, the newspaper's original brand name in time for President Rodrigo Duterte's first State of the Nation Address.