Playing with Fire
A press council needed here
By Gonzalo Duque
We had two meetings with the President (GMA) lately in which we tackled certain critical issues including education.
Our suggestion regarding the need to involve all stakeholders in an organization or government agency when planning a budget has won the President’s approbation.
We pointed out the value of listening to all sides in the preparation of programs because by doing so, we are able to win everyone’s commitment to the task at hand.
It may be interesting to recall our days at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as deputy administrator. We contended that planning should not just be done at the DAP or Villa Escudero – but with the overseas workers themselves, who, it turned out, were so elated by the process.
One of them said: “we don’t need your money, we only want to be treated with respect though how lowly our jobs are.” In fact, the OFWs are the country’s unsung heroes for bringing in the Green Buck. Those series of meetings resulted in the passage of the Migrant Workers Law which requires ambassadors and foreign workers abroad to accord to all our overseas workers careful and much attention and support.
See what consultation can do?
* * * *
“Our item on national heroes Andres Bonifacio and Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo elicited interesting reactions. Why are you pro Aguinaldo who ordered the killing of Bonifacio?” asked one reader.
We said we were merely stating historical facts.
We notice that even after their deaths, stories about them still persist.
For instance, did you notice that in a number of coups such as in Edsa I, then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Col. Gringo Honasan holed up in Camp Aguinaldo while General Ver and other Marcos Minions were in Camp Bonifacio!
No less than General Rodolfo Biason, now senator, one time led his troops to recapture Camp Aguinaldo from the renegades and succeeded in doing so.
Lately, a day before Nov. 30 – Bonifacio Day – Senator Antonio Trillanes “camped” at the Manila Peninsula and called for People Power against PGMA. His was a lost cause.
In this day and age of the internet, it’s foolhardy to rely on the symbo-lism of the bolo, Bonifacio’s favorite weapon.
Mas ok si Aguinaldo, a cunning fox and a great general. – lalo na sa araw ng Pasko. Di ba?
* * * *
Your columnist had a grand time with Cebu journalists last week.
We saw that the Fourth Estate in Cebu shows more intellectual maturity over most of their counterparts in other places, including Pangasinan.
We were impressed by the fact that they have a Press Council which acts as a watchdog in order to discipline erring members and continually promote professionalism among media practitioners.
While we were discussing the press’ role and responsibility in society, our thoughts fell on some practitioners who are loosely dubbed as “Talibans,” a derogatory word for corrupt mediamen. You see them hanging around houses or offices of politicians in the guise of obtaining news materials when in fact they were waiting for “manna” from heaven. Such terms as ACDC or PCDC have besmirched the profession.
We discussed the matter with some more mature and professional media leaders about the possibility of forming a Press Council in Pangasinan. Jun Velasco, who served as a director of the National Press Club, and Ermin Garcia, who was once active director of the Philippine Press Institute, could help us out in this regard. We learned that there used to be a National Press Council. Whatever happened to that, ha, Ermin, Jun?
For the upgrading of press practice in the province, we strongly suggest that we should have one like this in the province.
(Readers may reach columnist at punch.sunday@gmail.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/playing-with-fire/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)
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