By Leonardo Micua

 

MANY of my colleagues in the print and broadcast media, the legit ones, have indicated they are not in conformity with the plan of the PNP to admit bloggers in the social media as members of the PNP Press Corps.

They clarified they have no rancor with bloggers but that the idea  does not sit well to them if they too can become members of highly reputable press organizations like the PNP Press Corps, when no one knows where they are coming from, who they really are and what work they have done so far.

I share the view of my fellow media practitioners who believe that admitting bloggers into the ranks of PNP Press Corps is fraught with dangers.  The PNP may be admitting into the fold enemies of the state who may be maintaining blogs in the social media but are actually working underground to topple the government.

Any Tom. Dick and Harry can be a blogger as social media is accessible to all and also for free. Don’t tell me a 14-year-old student who owns a blog and an old man doing Tik Tok on social media just for fun can already qualify themselves as card-bearing members of the PNP Press Corps.

If that is the only qualification, said a woman newspaper correspondent, then she might as well let her 80-year-old plus papa to do the Tik Tok as his passport for membership in the PNP Press Corps.

If the PNP does not know it yet, some bloggers are actually hiding under the cloak of anonymity and known in social media just by their aliases, lamented by my journalist colleagues. Aren’t some bloggers actually employed by troll farms teeming nowadays, and accused of peddling fake news to demonize their personal enemies, and enemies of their political patrons?

Also, accommodating bloggers who are newcomers to the practice, is an insult to the professional practice of journalists who’ve came a long way to earn the trust and respect of the community where they live for the works they have done.

One colleague said he spent four years in a mass communication course, underwent one year training under the tutelage of a veteran journalist and honed himself well covering one beat after another for over 20 long years as correspondent of a Manila daily as compared to bloggers,  who—with due respect to them—were never exposed to journalism ethics and never had any work experience with any mainstream media.

I doubt if the legit media men will still join the PNP Press Corps if it is packed with bloggers misrepresenting themselves as journalists.

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When Vladimir Putin played the Russian roulette, Joe Biden called his bluff by deploying 80,000 US troops to Poland. No first shot was fired. It was all quiet in Ukraine’s eastern front for now, except for some patriotic singing by folks and their children in their icy park. 

War over Ukraine was averted for now but only temporarily as Russian soldiers still surround Ukraine on three sides and far from de-escalating despite reports some troops were already ordered to head home.

If war breaks out in that part of Europe, Ukrainians will not only be the casualties but also Russians because the people of Ukraine are prepared to die for their dear homeland if invaded. So, will some NATO troops that come to the aid of Ukraine? It will be a carnage in Ukraine and all over Europe.  

Whatever is happening in Europe is strongly felt all cover the world. Look at how the price of oil has increased. There were reports that the price of gasoline could hit close to P80 per liter in a few days. The impact of the saber-rattling over Ukraine has started to shake all nations without exception!

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While some people are egging the government to downgrade the quarantine classification of Metro Manila to Alert Level 1 from Alert Level 2  to hasten economic recovery because of the area’s continuous declining COVID-19 cases, the sudden rising of cases in Hong Kong is concerning.

Hong Kong is only a few hours away from Manila and it is where many of our countrymen, particularly domestic workers, have found employment. The possibility that the spike in cases in Hong Kong may be transported soon to PH is great and possibly even greater than the spread of the Omicron variant.

So, our desire to transition soon to new normal may yet be nipped in the bud, courtesy of our neighbor Hong Kong.

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