BY NONOY PERDON – When for two months or more, the printed editions of Philippine community newspapers seemed to be absent during the onset of Coronavirus, the doyen and mentor of Filipino press in Sydney the octogenarian Mr Jimmy Pimentel was alarmed it would be the end of the printed press in the community.
MAIN PHOTO – Then APCO President Jhun Salazar, Jimmy Pimentel and then PCC President Atoy Sayas during the ADHIKA Awards for Community Press
“Jimmy” as he is fondly called In the community, immediately brought the idea of promoting a collaborated single edition of all four prevailing community papers Philippine Sentinel, Ang Kalatas, Philippine Community Herald and Bayanihan News.
He was practically following up the fate of each newspaper. As editorial consultant of Ang Kalatas, Jimmy revealed the paper has gone purely to digital publishing and wary with the fate of the tradition of printed press in the community.
Good news, Community Herald and Bayanihan News continue to publish their monthly printed issues and Mr Pimentel was graciously pleased.
Mr Jimmy Pimentel and the two dozen or so of patient, persevering Filipino press, and media communicators in the Filipino community in Sydney had a long years of association.
Himself considered the trailblazer of community press in Sydney, Mr Pimentel had seen through the development of Filipino press and media through the years. He was editor and publisher of a series of community newspapers including the defunct Philippine Balita and Sandigan.
He was the long time nurturer of the radio program Radio Sandigan on 2RDJ-FM 88.1 community radio in Sydney. Those were his part time contributions to the community during this full time career as section editor with the Fairfax community newspapers.
During this transition from fulltime work, Jimmy Pimentel had the insight of nurturing the community press by establishing the club Filipino Press of Sydney, an association of media-interested community leaders practising in the arts, press, humanities and communication.
Mr Pimentel initiated some practical short-term seminars on Community Journalism which prepared a number of community bloggers, commenters and web site owners during the rapid onset of social media press in the community. He hosted a series of seminars on Libel , Law and the Press not to mention the pilot show of Filipino artists all of them in an environment of a then disco club.
Using his connections in his job with the Fairfax Press, Jimmy raised the bar of professionalism in Philippine community press. I remember the times when Pimentel organised monthly seminar about community Journalism in a thriving Filipino restaurant in Granville. He was mindful in supporting small Filipino businesses by setting up connections with Filipino community press.
As another stream of community press, Pimentel encouraged and mentored the establishment of Filipino broadcast programs such as Radio Tagumpay on Triple H 100.1 FM, Radio Bandila Alive 90.5 FM, the defunct Radio Adhika on WOW100 FM, Radio Tamaraw on 89.1 2GL FM and Radio Rizal on 2MCR-FM and some other short-lived radio programs.
Todate, Mr Pimentel is steering the monthly meetings of FilpressSyd with the tireless support of community leader Josephine Musa and journalist Marilie Boubendiano. at the Dooley’s Catholic Club in Lidcombe, every month. The meetings served as the “press club” of Filipinos in Sydney which hosted in the past a number of visiting media people, and even promoted up and coming Filipino performing artists.
Jimmy was a tireless supporter, with many frustrations, for the development of the Philippine Multi-Purpose Centre (MPC), believing it would be a viable hub for community activities. For a time, he hosted a defacto office of FilpressSyd club at MPC’s building in Western Sydney.
Many should be thankful that Jimmy migrated many years ago with his family to Australia. With the unique preoccupation of being an accredited professional boxing referee in the Philippines and here in Australia. Jimmy was no stranger to the struggles of a migrant settling his family Down Under.
During his early years in Australia, Jimmy with his vast professional qualifications started as proofreader and press assistant in a number of publications before finally lading job as newspaper section editor.
Jimmy had a thriving career in advertising the Philippines and himself nurtured by the Loyola mentors in Ateneo High School and Ateneo College in Manila.
He studied also Newspaper Management at Medill-Northwestern University in U.S.