Dr. Reynaldo E. Santos, upon the suggestion of the then PSO President (1988-1989), Dr. Rudolfo U. Chuanico took the initial steps in creating a forum that resurrected the concept of the PAAO Newsletter during the incumbency of Dr. Gloria D. Lim as PAOO President. The maiden issue of the generic PSO-PAOO Newsletter came out in 1989 during the mid-year meeting in Baguio. The aim was to bring to the members of the PSO and PAOO, Council news, institutional announcements, PBO communications and other related matters that interested members. The black & white issues, consisting of 4-6 pages, were put up on a quarterly basis with the help of industry partners, chiefly Allergan, Philippines.

After sometime, Dr. Santos, launched the “Name Your Newsletter Contest” but it generated only one (1) entry from the membership during the contest period. In 1996, he finally gave the name of “Focal Point: PAO Highlights & News Reviews” with Dr. Santos & Dr. Rene Edgar Mendoza as its founding editors. The publication this time was made possible with the generous support Ciba Vision and later by Pharmacia & UpJohn beginning 1999.

With little manpower to run the newsletter, Dr. Santos took on the additional task of being the copy editor while Dr. Mendoza, being the more senior person, took on the task of writing the editorial for the issues. With the combined efforts of the founding editors & contributors from various institutions – the newsletter soon evolved over time with the creation of a formal editorial staff, business manager and correspondents that led to a more structured format with banner headlines, improved & timely coverage of Council activities, the PAO President’s Diary, international news, better and more interesting features, more regular contributions from participating institutions, more colored photos and better paper quality. Later on, associate editors were nominated and named (Dr. Princess de Leon-Fermin, Dr. Ma. Evelyn Ambrosio, Dr.Cynthia Domingo, and Dr. Jacqueline H. King – among others) to help in the further improvement of the news forum. Dr. Carlos G. Naval became its first managing editor. The sponsorship of the publication of the Focal Point was later taken over by Pfizer, Philippines in 2004.

In keeping with the Academy’s efforts to transition to paperless communications, the FocalPoint printed newsletter was converted to an electronic format and was rebranded as eFocalPoint in 2010. With this format, the newsletter was able to reach the PAO members instantaneously upon publication without the delay and additional cost of courier service – at the same time, supporting responsible environmental stewardship.