Playing with Fire
Pimentel bill is a blow to media malpractices
By Gonzalo Duque
ALL systems go! That seems to be the mood vis a vis the Bangus Festival of Dagupan which runs from April l5 to May l.
It’s apropos that this great city of Mayor Al and Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez be known throughout the world as Bangus City.
Minus the fishpen-raised bangus, we still can boast to anyone that we have the best bangus against any comer. Yong Sarangani at Iloilo bangus na sinasabi nilang mas malinamnam, don’t believe so. We still have the best.
But we echo what our publisher deplored last week in his column. He does not see any fishpen dismantling effort that’s being announced by the city government. What he sees are mga parami ng paraming fishpen. Lalo na diyan sa Lucao,na showcase pa naman ng bagong infrastructure napwedeng ikinon ed entiron mundo… agay lay karakel na fishpen! Nagiging peste na. Ay lalasi kayo, mankoliseng si Manong Joe nen dimalan ditan ed Golden Gate of Dagupan last Monday.
Magpakita naman kayo ng gilas, mga agagui, ng common sense, bawasan or pa– dismantle yo palan amin ira tay fishpen, aligen tayo pay Binmaley vis-à-vis its successful fishpens clearing operations. We warn you. Manasingger lay Mayo, ompiano ompatey ira tay bangus ditan lapud fishpen! Kasalanan ya baleg itan.
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Don’t get us wrong, old and new colleagues in the Pangasinan media.
We did not attend the rally against the Right of Reply bill, authored by Senator Nene Pimentel, not because we were against the crusade, but because we wanted to send a message to you all and the general public.
In a large sense, we agree with the senator who had the courage to speak out against media abuses. All of us know that there are many media abuses everywhere, especially hereabouts. You, who organized the rally, dapat nga mag-seminar ang mga ilan diyan e. Sorry if we are stepping on some toes, aray!, this subject is quite sensitive, but we need to be honest and frank, brutally frank, about it so that we can introduce reforms in the media, if it isn’t late yet . . .
Naku, ang dami diyan, a lot of people, mostly government officials who would do a machine gun attack against certain media practitioners who are even pictured as worse than the crooked cops in destroying and maligning the names of their political pet peeves just because they could not get what they “requested” or demanded using the text of the cellphones.
You, our colleagues, should really look at yourselves in the mirror so you’d understand what’s aching or pining Senator Pimentel. He is not anti press freedom; he is just anti press malpractice! How many of you could with a straight face tell your family that you were not mulcting your clients. Marami tayong dosier tungkol sa bagay na yan. We shall spill the beans at the right time. Once or twice in the past, we, too, fell victim of media abuse, which has kept us thinking, at what right would one media man even brandish freedom of the press when what he wants is freedom to abuse others’ rights!
In this light, we commend Senator Pimentel because he had the courage to disappoint the framers of the constitutional provision on press freedom because not everything in it is being exercised properly. What probably endangers his bill is that he would surely be misinterpreted for using pressure against press freedom, when in fact, he was motivated by a desire to protect it from media scoundrels.
Question: How many of our media practitioners really bothered to know what their job is all about, how did they know and understand the meaning of press freedom, press responsibility and related subjects. May isang dyario dian, lahat ng contents libelous.
Naku, it’s only in Pangasinan! Papaano, they can always seek refuge in the constitutional provision guaranteeing press freedom, which has the widest latitude tempting any newsman to do what he pleases, forgetting his duty and obligation to society, to fair play.
We rarely know among our media practitioners hereabouts who have studied journalism, or its equivalent. Due to this sad reality, marami tuloy ang mga taga suntok sa buwan.
We, therefore, endorse the proposal of Ermin Garcia Jr. to form a media advisory council to police the press’ ranks, and with it, probably, Senator Pimentel might even consider withdrawing his bill knowing that the local press — the Philippine press — has matured and is responsible. But in its present state, tama lang siya. Maraming abusado and incompetent na mga kasamahan.
We should consider his bill a God sent.
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