The scrolls were presented to Soliven and 27 other "Jubilarians," all of them famous names in journalism and mass media, who had made their mark in their fields of endeavor and had served as "lifetime members" of the premier press club in the nation.
Delivering the response on behalf of the other honorees, Soliven urged fellow journalists to remain vigorous and conscientious in their pursuit of the truth.
"We are proud to belong to the National Press Club. We hope the Philippine press will continue to be free, and vigilant, and strong... in the defense of our Constitution and liberties," he said in his brief address.
Soliven was arrested by the military in the first hour of martial law in September 1972, and thrown into maximum security prison at Fort Bonifacio where he was the cellmate of the late Sen. Ninoy Aquino. Aside from his critical daily columns, one reason the late President Ferdinand Marcos ordered his arrest was his weekly television talk show, "Impact," on ABS-CBN Channel 2. On Tuesday night, just before martial law was declared, Senator Aquino had made a surprise appearance on "Impact" to expose the martial law scheme, called "Oplan Sagittarius."
Soliven fought his way up in the field of journalism, starting out as a reporter covering the defense and police beats. He was promoted to business editor and then columnist of the pre-martial law Manila Times. He was also publisher of The Evening News, and later, in 1985, was one of the seven co-owners who launched the Philippines Daily Inquirer, where he was the founding publisher.
In 1986, in partnership with STAR founding chairman Betty Go-Belmonte (originally also co-chairman of the Inquirer), former editor-in-chief Antonio Roces, and the late Arturo Borjal, he started The Philippine STAR.
He also worked for more than 10 years as a foreign correspondent in Asia (including covering the Vietnam War), Europe and the Middle East. He was a correspondent of Newsweek magazine and a stringer for The New York Times.
During the jubilee celebration a number of veteran journalists, government officials and successful private individuals were in attendance.
Singer-composer Jose Mari Chan spiced the night by rendering a Christmas song, and later pledged to donate P1 million to the NPC.
The NPC was founded in 1952 by veteran journalists.
The Golden Jubilarians include: Domingo Abadilla, Manuel Almario, Eugenia Apostol, Ariel Bocobo, Dave Borje, Jose Buhain, Adrian Cristobal, Neal Cruz, Johnny Dayang, Benjamin Defensor, Eric Giron, Olaf Giron, Virtudes Guinto, Emil Jurado, Llita Logarta, Romy Mapile, Nestor Mata, Juan Mercado.
Other jubilarians are STAR columnist Rosalinda Orosa, Virgilio Pantaleon, Ligaya Perez, Domingo Quimlat, Napoleon Rama, Rodolfo Reyes, Bernie Ronquillo, Gil Santos, Manuel Silva, Ernie Singson, Jess Sison and Alice Colet Villadolid.
Before the evening –organized by the Golden Jubilee Celebration executive committee headed by chairman Alice Reyes –ended, NPC officials led by president Louie Logarta of the Daily Tribune and Housing czar Michael Defensor signed a memorandum of understanding which provides a housing program for newspapermen.
Under the MOU, a two-hectare land in Bicutan, Taguig has been allotted for the housing of mediamen in coordination with the Pag-IBIG Fund.
For starters, two buildings named Fourth Estate Towers will immediately be constructed in the area.
Mrs. Arroyo has also allocated P1-million from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) as premium for health insurance of journalists.