The Philippine Tribune started as a community-based newsletter in Woodcroft, NSW, a suburb that is only 10 minutes away from the City of Blacktown. Formerly known as Tinig Filipino in Woodcroft, circulation was then confined to only 500 Filipino families in the area. As the years went by, the name was changed to Woodcroft Tribune after it was discovered that the name Tinig Filipino held an international copyright owned by a Filipino magazine being circulated in Hong Kong. The magazine catered to over 150,000 Filipinos working in the former British Crown Colony. On October 2008, the name was changed to Philippine Sentinel because of a defamation case lodged against Philippine Tribune.
In August of 2013, the readership profile of Philippine Sentinel was dramatically increased to over 50,000 as more and more Filipinos became interested in reading the paper. Circulation reached phenomenal proportions as the demand for advertising space continued to grow. As of 2013, circulation has reached 20,000 copies.
As the paper now caters to readers in Woodcroft, Doonside, Blacktown, Marayong, Rooty Hill, Mt. Druitt, Castle Hill, Glenwood, Asquith, Chatswood, Campbelltown, and as far as Melbourne and Brisbane, the name Philippine Sentinel became more appropriate.
While some of our readers have suggested that we upgrade to tabloid size, the majority still prefers the present A4. Even the former Philippine Consul General Maria Theresa Lazaro commented that the size is so handy and very easy to read.
At present, we do not have plans of using newsprint because of ink smudges on the fingers. Although more expensive, we try our best to maintain the present quality of white paper which is preferred by both readers and advertisers.
We are very choosy about the news articles we print, making sure that the topics discussed are of interest to readers. We occasionally publish social events but such news items do not dominate the identity of the paper.
We are aware that in the practice of journalism, it is an impossible task to please everybody. That is not our intention. Our aim is to provide current information as they happen; making sure that reporting is as accurate as possible, after careful verification from reliable sources.