The statement released by the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs last Sept. 10 insulted Philippine media.
The statement:
Making life worth living.
Category: Media
There is no overstating that only when the citizenry is informed can they be empowered to be partners in nation building.
A vigilant citizenry is the most effective check against an abusive government.
That’s why the right of the people to information is enshrined in the Constitution. The Bill of Rights provides that “Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions or decision, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.”
Two years into the Benigno Aquino III presidency, the optimism for the passage of the Freedom of Information bill has waned and has become a cause of concern for media practitioners.
There was supposed to be meeting by the House committee on public information chaired by Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone last Aug. 7 but it was cancelled. Instead it was decided to get the sense of the House majority coalition man on the bill.
Thumbs down for once again whining about media not reporting his idea of good news, as if media is an extension of Malacanang.
This is a portion of Aquino’s speech that directly hit De Castro even if his name was not mentioned:
“Noong Oktubre ng nakaraang taon, may isang reporter kayo ang nagbabalita sa NAIA 3. Ang sabi niya, sa puntong iyon, tumaas ng dalawampung porsiyento ang passenger arrivals sa paliparan.
Spreading false information is not funny at all. Worse, it is coming from official sources.
Last Sunday, Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, released to media the information that a Chinese vessel rammed a Philippine fishing boat, Axl John, last June 20 on the waters near Bolinao, Pangasinan.
Four of the eight fishermen aboard Axl John were rescued but one later died. Four are still missing.
How sure was Ramos that it was a Chinese vessel? He said that was according to the fishermen who saw the markings on the ship. Apparently the name was not written in Roman alphabet which Filipinos are familiar with.
If Rizal were alive today, it is not farfetched that he would be in media.
I would imagine him writing stinging commentaries on the corrupt politicians and self-righteous civil society leaders the way he took on the hypocritical friars and cocky and incompetent Spanish colonial officers in his Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
I would imagine him an advocate of protecting our environment. As noted by an environmental organization EcoWaste Coalition, during his exile in Dapitan, Rizal did various projects such as the construction of an aqueduct that provided people with clean water, draining of swamps to avoid being breeding places of mosquitoes, use of coconut oil lamps to light up streets, beautification of the town plaza, and planting of trees in different parts of the town.
I would imagine him also writing about our state of education because the importance he puts in education was best expressed in his support for the women of Malolos who defied the wrath of Malolos parish priest Fr. Felipe Garcia, who forbade them to attend night school to study Spanish.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines alerted the media community on three legislations: Sen. Edgardo Angara’s Senate Bill 2965, An Act Protecting Individual Personal Information in Information and Communications Systems in the Government and the private sector; House Bill No. 5808, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012; and House Bill 5831 which proposes the amendment of Article 359 of R.A 3815, the Revised Penal Code.
Angara’s SB 2965 also seeks to create a national data protection commission.
In its website, side by side with reports on the peacetalks that the Muslim rebel group is pursuing with the government and the death of its vice chairman for Military Affairs, Aleem Abdul Aziz S. Mimbantas, MILF deputy chairman of the MILF Committee on Information Khaled Musa said they are not taking sides on the ugly incident but commented that Tulfo, “has been given the dose of his own medicine.”
“Hurting is not only when one is attacked but the more stinging it is when the offended party is the whole community like the Moros. I wish he will stop insulting people now that he has been given the dose of his own medicine,” Musa said.
He added: “‘Truth is truth and it is not fair to say Ramon Tulfo or the Santiagos are guilty of starting the brawl. Let the facts of the incident come out soon.”
Luwaran described Tulfo as ,” an incorrigible critic of Moros in Mindanao.”
The news item further said that in his column in the Philippine Inquirer, Tulfo treat the Moros in Mindanao as “made of sub-race.”
Friday the 13th last year, at about 6 p.m., fellow VERA Files writer and trustee, Chit Estella was riding in a taxi for a reunion dinner with high school classmates at UP Ayala TechnoHub .
A rampaging Universal Guiding Star bus rammed the taxi along Commonwealth Avenue. Chit never made it to the dinner.
On Sunday, on the first anniversary of her passing, Chit’s family will hold a Metro-Manila wide Run for Road Safety for all victims of road crashes.
It was crab talk at the two-day 16th National Press Forum of the Philippine Press Institute at the Traders Hotel. President Aquino, who was the keynote speaker, was the one who started it when he began his talk with a childhood anecdote about Filipino crabs:
“Ayon po sa kuwento, narinig ko po sa aking ama, sa loob daw po ng isang bar, umiinom ang isang Amerikano. Pumasok ang isang mangingisdang Pilipino na may dalang timba na puno ng alimango. Ibinaba niya ito, at ang sabi po ng Amerikano: “Buddy, your crabs are about to escape.” Tiningnan lang po ng Pilipino. Ang sagot ng Pilipino, “Don’t bother and don’t fret; they’re Filipino crabs. Before they get out, they’ll be pulled back in.” Walang raw pong makakaangat, kasi lahat sila naghahatakan pababa.Habang pinipilit ng ilang kababayan nating makaahon, siya namang sipag ng ilan na hilain siyang pababa.”
Statement from the Office of Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda: On the denial-of-service attack on PCDSPO-maintained websites At around four o’clock in the afternoon of April…