By Ted Khan R Juanite
January 3, 2019
Sultan of Lanao Firdausi I. Y. Abbas, PhD., a renowned famous international lawyer honored him the title “The Dean of Mranaw Journalists.”
A number of young journalists based in Mindanao today has not heard of Masiding Noor Yahya or “Mas” who was one of the original Filipino Muslim media practitioners in the 20th century.
The time was about on the late 1970s. In Quiapo, the heart of Manila, a Mranaw community already existed and many of the younger generation studied in the universities. Most of them had met people from the Maguindanao and Tausug communities living on Quiapo.
A number of young journalists based in Mindanao today has not heard of Masiding Noor Yahya or “Mas” who was one of the original Filipino Muslim media practitioners in the 20th century.
The time was about on the late 1970s. In Quiapo, the heart of Manila, a Mranaw community already existed and many of the younger generation studied in the universities. Most of them had met people from the Maguindanao and Tausug communities living on Quiapo.
Dean Mas Yahya began his career as journalist in the 1970s when he wrote opinion columns in such prestigious Davao local dailies as Sun Star Davao, People’s Daily Forum, San Pedro Express, among others, and aired weekly commentaries at RMN-DXDC Davao.
When he transferred to Manila in early 1980s, he founded The Friday Times, a newspaper dedicated to Muslims in the Philippines, at the height of the Muslim struggle for self-determination. Mas was the publisher and editor. This was the first national weekly Muslim newspaper that was published in Manila using English as medium.
The Friday Times was a sort of experiment in journalism managed by Philippine Muslims, and ran for a number of years. It stopped its operation when sponsorship and advertising revenues were at its lowest.
Among the pioneers who worked for The Friday Times included former Philippine Information Agency Director Dr. Abdullah Mamacotao; PTV-4 Mindanao Regional Manager Julmunir I. Jannaral; former Human Rights commissioner Atty. Nasser Marohomsalic; Judge Omar Taher; Maulana Robert Bobby Alonto, and Kim Bagundang, among others.
Bouncing back, Mas Yahya is currently the founder and Editor-In-Chief Emeritus of Ranao Star Philippines, the longest running local weekly published from Marawi, Lanao del Sur and the only recognized ARMM-based newspaper. He has also been taken in recently as a Correspondent of The Manila Times, considered the oldest English daily newspaper in the Philippines.
He holds the position of the chairman of Lanao Association of Multimedia Practitioners, Inc. and president of the Sarimanok Press Club, dubbed as finest in the cities of Iligan and Marawi and provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur.
Mas was a contributor to the daily Brunei Times and the Philippine News Agency.
A well-travelled man, Masiding Noor Yahya also held the position of Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the World Federation of Muslim Journalists based in Kuala Lumpur. He also served as president of the Davao Muslim Press Club in Davao City and former chairman of the Philippine Muslim Press Club.
A former English and Islam Instructor at the Indonesian International School in Davao City, he became College Dean of Jamiatul Marawi Al-Islamia Foundation in Marawi City, and later worked as Director for Student Affairs of the Al-Mustapha International University, Makati Campus.
Both in work and in friendship, Masiding Noor Yahya has exhibited authenticity and principled action that led former PDI correspondent Julmunir I. Jannaral to declare him “The Father of Muslim Journalism in the Philippines.”
Dean Masiding Noor Yahya belongs to well-known religious families in Lanao, the Yahya Clan and the Noor Family, and hails from a royal lineage being descendant of the royal houses of Balintao, Bayang, Buadisacayo (Marawi), Ditsaan, Maguing and Ramain, among others. He is also a descendant of the Prophet of Islam Mohammad, may peace and blessing of God be upon him.
He is married to Bai Rocaya Sumndad Otical who is now the Publisher of Ranao Star Philippines. (TKRJ)