Panorama: The Long View
ver the past decades, the Sunday magazine Philippine Panorama, one of the longest running generally circulated magazines in the country, has reinvented itself many times over, from editor to editor, yet still managed to be relevant and widely read to this day.
From the late ’ 70s to the ’80s, anybody who was anybody graced its cover. A young Charo Santos-Concio, then an award-winning film actress, in a Maria Clara gown; a dashing Ronnie Heneras posing with a model bride for its Special Groom Issue; a whitehaired Fernando Poe, Jr. as Daniel Aguila in the film Aguila; a fresh-faced, bikini-clad 15-year- old Myrna Castillo dubbed as “Cinderella ng Tondo,” on her way to sexy film stardom. There was Pope Saint John Paul II during his first visit to the Philippines to beatify St. Lorenzo Ruiz in 1981.
A cultural, literary, political, lifestyle, and entertainment weekly all rolled into one, the magazine was replete with stories and articles that readers of all ages can relate to. Philippine Panorama was also a breeding ground and resource material for aspiring writers and adherents of the written word.
The critical column of former editor Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, series of poetry and “Breaking Sings” column by National Artist for Literature Cirilo Bautista, and the opinion column “Overview” by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, were just some of the wildly followed and collected pieces in the magazine.
Over the years, the magazine has been a worthy chronicler of significant events in the country and around the world, as well as the illustrious history and milestones of foremost government offices, private institutions, and organizations alike.
Last year, Philippine Panorama had another major revamp (in both articles and in layout) to keep up with the rapidly changing interests and sensibilities of its readers in the Internet Age. It retained its thematic concept but paid more mind to each theme’s Filipino cultural facet. It sought articles and commentaries from experts and visionaries in the fields of literature, business, arts and culture, travel, environment, politics, foreign affairs, natural resources, health, the Catholic Church, sociology, history, medicine among others. Its recent covers and cover stories featured everyone from Pope Francis to National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario, Sun Life president and CEO Riza Mantaring, United Kingdom borough councilor Cynthia AlcantaraBaker, Filipino astrophysicists Dr. Rogel Sese and Dr. Reina Reyes, Armida Siguion Reyna, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Amando Tetangco, Jr.
Current Philippine Panorama editor AA Patawaran’s “Write Here, Write Now” column was an enriching addition to Jullie Y. Daza’s “Medium Rare,” Beth Day Romulo’s “Another Day,” and Zac Sarian’s “Agri-Talk.” The magazine also called out Filipino writers for poetry, essays, short stories, or excerpts thereof, reserving space for people’s voices and viewpoints in search for literary expressions of what it is like to be a Filipino today.