Bulacan journos mark Del Pilar 170th birth anniversary with newspaper wreaths

Bulacan on Sunday marks the 170th birth anniversary of Marcelo H. Del Pilar the great propagandist and the Father of Journalism in the country. As part of the tributes, members of the Bulacan Press Club offered a symbolic “newspaper wreath” at Del Pilar’s shrine in Bulakan, Bulacan. (Photo by Carmela Reyes-Estrope)

BULAKAN, BULACAN—Members of the Bulacan Press Club offered symbolic “newspaper wreaths” at the shrine of Marcelo H. Del Pilar here on Sunday to mark the 170th birth anniversary of the great propagandist and the Father of Journalism in the country.

Del Pilar’s Day is an annual special non-working holiday in Bulacan.

Due to the strict health protocols imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the traditional civic parade during the occasion has been canceled.

The parade starts at the municipal shrine going to the Del Pilar shrine in Sitio Cupang, Barangay San Nicolas in this town.

Jenny Raymundo, president of the Bulacan Press Club, said they revived the tradition of offering newspaper wreaths, which began in the 1980s but faded in the early 1990s, as part of tributes to Del Pilar.

This year, the group also paid homage to local newspaper publications that have been badly affected by the pandemic, some of which were forced to fold up or go digital.

/MUF