Dagupan City Government – Information Office
DAGUPAN CITY, PANGASINAN (JULY 05, 2026) – The Sunday Punch, one of the country’s oldest and most influential community newspapers, has ceased publication after 70 years, marking the end of an era for local journalism in Pangasinan.
Founded on July 15, 1956 by veteran journalist Ermin E. Garcia Sr., The Sunday Punch earned a reputation for fearless reporting and advocacy for good governance. Garcia was assassinated in his Dagupan editorial office in 1966 while pursuing stories on alleged corruption, a killing widely regarded as one of the country’s early attacks on press freedom.
Following his father’s death, Ermin F. Garcia Jr. took over the newspaper and transformed it into one of the country’s longest-running community publications. Under his stewardship as editor-publisher, the weekly expanded its reach, became one of the first Philippine community newspapers to establish an online presence in 1997, and remained a leading source of news and commentary in Pangasinan and Northern Luzon.
The newspaper announced it would cease publication after seven decades of serving readers across Pangasinan, ending a legacy built on independent journalism and community reporting. The closure comes less than a year after the death of Garcia Jr., who was widely recognized as a pillar of Philippine community journalism.
The closure leaves a significant void in Pangasinan’s media landscape, where The Sunday Punch chronicled the province’s political, economic and social history for generations. Its demise also underscores the continuing struggle of print publications to survive amid declining advertising revenues and the migration of readers to digital and social media platforms.
