EDITORIAL — Progress never stops

Today, we celebrate The FREEMAN’s 105th anniversary. We do it with no small amount of gratitude. We are thankful that we have made it this far.

For this year we chose the theme “Celebrating Cebu’s progress” as a way of highlighting how far Cebu has come and how far we have also come with it.

And true enough progress is something that is necessary for anything, whether it’s a province, a city, an organization, a community, a family, or even an individual, to improve and move forward.

But history tells us that progress isn’t that simple. Progress involves change. And like any form of change, progress comes with its own share of uncertainty and, most of all, pain and sacrifice.

A province, city, or community doesn’t become one of the best in the country without undergoing the necessary change that will alleviate it from a backwater location to one of the richest and most influential. In the same way an individual cannot expect to hone his or her talents or skills without hours of study, practice, sacrifice, and self-denial.

Progress will entail hardship; it is a price that has to be paid.

Then again, the progress of someone alone cannot really guarantee success. Yes, those who go alone may go fast, but not very far. The more people are involved in progress --families, communities, entire cities and provinces-- the better it is for many people and the more the impact of that progress will be felt.

And while what can be called success can be measured in one form or another, the overall rewards of progress are sweet indeed.

Can we say Cebu has progressed, changed, and improved from what we were before? Yes. But can we also say we can improve more? Definitely.

Can we say as a news organization The FREEMAN has progressed, changed, and improved from what we were before? Also yes. But can we also say we can improve more? Also definitely.

Why do we readily admit we need to improve? Because progress never stops, only provinces, cities, organizations, and individuals that are no longer existing, disbanded, discontinued, or dead stop progressing.

As with any editorial about our anniversary, we would also like to give our thanks to those who matter most to us, and that would be you, our dear readers and advertisers.

Thank you. We would not have made it to our 105th anniversary without your support.