July 23, 1999 The Manila Times wrote its final issue after 10 years with the Gokongweis. The paper was sold for P20 million to real estate developer Reghis Romero. The so-called "asset sale" became controversial because many speculated that former Pres. Estrada was behind the buyout using his cronies to settle the sales. Three interesting personalities were involved in the controversy, these are Reghis Romero II, the front-financier in the sales transaction, Mark Jimenez, a corporate individual known as an Estrada crony who bought partial shares from the paper and Roces progeny, Atty. Katrina Legarda, who is a famous law practitioner and women's movement advocate.

With the news about the selling and the involvement of a new generation of Roces, it got me interested to search for the family who was once behind the success of the longest-living newspaper name in the history of journalism. It made me wonder what had happened to the descendants of Alejandro "Moy" Roces (recognized "William Randolph Hearst of the Philippines"), Ramon Roces (known "Komiks King") and Joaquin "Chino" Roces (branded as a "defender of press freedom").

The Manila Times had always been a credible newspaper. It had its golden years during the era when Chino Roces was its publisher. The Roces family name had been related with journalism since their successs with the first newspaper chain in the Philippines that they put up called TVT (Taliba-La Vanguardia-Tribune). In my classes in journalism and from the books we read through out college about the history of Philippine media, the Roces name was always mentioned. So I decided to have a search and see if the Roces name continuously lives the legacy of its forefathers as newspapermen.

Tracing the family tree of the Roces clan I found out that some of them are still in media or had been involved in media. Some had changed family names through marriages but the heritage of publishing and being in the print industry remains with them. Some had left mainstream newspaper publishing, but still find themselves in the niche publications, writing, printing and living the Roces way.

In my interviews with the Roceses, all of them agree that family has an effect on their inclination in media. They were not forced to live the Roces legacy of being in the publishing business but there was always a certain calling to keep the tradition.

I conceptualized and created this thesis website to trace the whereabouts of the Roceses. The accomplished website contains the following; a family tree of the Roces based from manuscripts I've gathered from Don Chino Roces' files, clarified by the clan members, briefing on the present day publications affiliated with the contemporary Roceses, interviews of present-day descendants of the clan and updates on the current involvements of these progenies. Finally, I aspire that this website be the start of further researches about the family who had various contributions in the development of Philippine print media.

- Sassy Mae C. Sumulong
AB-Communication Arts student
De La Salle University, Philippines