6 Mindanao Daily NEWS northmin . westmin . caraga . davao Your Mindanao-wide Community Newspaper
Opinion
EDITOR: RUEL V. PELONE • ruel_pelone2002@yahoo.com
friDAY, may 23, 2014 Advertising and Editorial E-mail : mindanaodailynews@gmail.com Contact nos. : 0917-7121424 • 0947-8935776
Mindanao Daily NEWS northmin . westmin . caraga . davao Your Mindanao-wide Community Newspaper
The Mindanao Daily nORTHMIN, Mindanao Daily CARAGA , mindanao daily westmin and , Mindanao Daily DAVAO newspapers are published daily by MINDANAO DAILY NEWS at Door 2, Tanleh Building, Abellanosa St., Brgy. Consolacion, Cagayan de Oro City. It is registered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Region 10 with Certififcate No. 01791042, and with Business Permit No. BP-02275 Under Business License Certificate No. 2014-00525, TIN No. 209-980-927, Tel. Nos: (088) 856-3344, (08822)7233-44, 0917-7121424, 0947-8935776 E-mail: mindanaodaily.ads@gmail.com, mindanaodailynews@gmail.com MER SUDARIA Publisher ALLAN M. MEDIANTE Editor-in-Chief ruel pelone Managing Editor cheng ordoÑez Associate Editor CRIS DIAZ Executive Editor Arjay Felicilda Assistant Editor felix santillan Layout Artist Rene Michael BaÑos Regional Editor-Northmin PAT SAMONTE CHRIS PANGANIBAN Regional Editors-Caraga AL JACINTO Regional Editor-WestMin irene dayo Reporter-NorthMin gerry lee gorit Photo Journalist ATTY. MARIO T. JUNI NOTARY PUBLIC- JUNI LAW OFFICE CELL NO: 09352379999/ (088) 8573595 CRUZ TAAL ST., CAG. DE ORO CITY Legal Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------
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Let Us Take the Bull by the Horns
We have said it before and we will say it again, there can be no denying that corruption is as serious a problem within the media as it is within government and, let us face it, society in general. Media, after all, do not exist in a vacuum. Without passing judgment on anyone, the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s report on media personalities who allegedly benefited from the pork barrel scam according to accounting records purportedly drawn up by whistleblower Benhur Luy comes as no surprise. All these remain allegations, and those who raised these claims are duty bound to prove, just as those so accused have every right to prove their innocence. Having said that, just as media should have no sacred cows, neither should the Fourth Estate be spared from scrutiny and criticism. But it should not end there, whether these allegations are later proven true or false. It is time that the Philippine media – and we speak not only of those who work in the news but everyone in the industry, including, yes, the managements and owners – recognize the problem and save ourselves and our people from ourselves. It is bad enough that this plague within our ranks has time and again been used not only to justify but even to trivialize the ultimate censorship – murder – that has claimed the lives of at least 161 of our colleagues since 1986, as President Aquino did when he
attempted to explain his administration’s inaction on media killings. It is bad enough when our audiences, the people we purport to serve and who depend on us for the information they need to make decisions about their personal and collective lives, feel no outrage when one of us is murdered. What we must fear is the day when the people finally and irrevocably decide that what the PDI reports is, indeed, what we are, when they judge us as having lost all credibility, unworthy of their trust, useful only to while their idle hours with brainless entertainment, a day, alas, that appears to be creeping ever closer to us, no thanks to the quest for profit over service. But we are also confident that there remain more than enough among us who, despite extreme difficulties and danger, remain true to the tenets of the profession. We call on all those who believe so to come together. We need to take a long, hard look on where we are now – not just the problems of ethics and professionalism besetting us but, just as important, the economic and other interests that inform everything from how the industry is structured, the living and working conditions of its workers and, yes, the form in which the “truth” eventually reaches our audiences – and where we should go from here. There is no other way. NUJP
Statement
WEF-EA will benefit only the rich
LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… Do not forget to read the Book of the Law, meditate on it day and night, and carefully obey everything that is written in it. Then, you will become prosperous and successful…” (Joshua 1:8, the Holy Bible). -oooESTRADAS BEING POLITICALLY MAIMED: Here is a recent Facebook post of Mr. Renato Mauricio, a cousin of mine who is a champion darts player and an accomplished writer whose pen is mightier than his darts instruments: “Just a curtain raiser? Many now see the disqualification of Laguna Gov. ER Ejercito as a curtain raiser for two main events. “(The first of these main events is) the impending arrest and incarceration of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (in connection with the P10 billion pork scam), and the (second is the) disqualification of Manila Mayor (Joseph) Erap Estrada (by the Supreme Court, as a consequence of a petition
Kakampi mo ang batas Atty. Batas Mauricio for disqualification that the camp of defeated 2013 mayoralty candidate Fred Lim filed)! “If this were a game of cards locally known as `sakla’, the cards on the table already reveal the probable outcome of the game. The Estradas are now being politically maimed, so they wouldn’t be able to mount a candidate in 2016. Sen. JV Ejercito managed to squeeze himself into the Senate only because the cheating would have been very obvious.” -oooFILIPINOS EATING TOXIC RICE: Felipe Gabriel was a classmate of mine at the Dr. Nicanor Reyes Memorial Colleges way back in the early 1970s. We parted ways when we pursued our
respective collegiate education, but I am happy to note that he is now one of our energetic agriculturists in the country espousing organic farming---or growing crops without fertilizers and other chemical agents. He wrote the following warning in his Facebook timeline: “Before we offer to our dear family (members our) staple rice foods in our dining table, did you know that almost half a dozen toxic synthetic insecticides and chemical fertilizers were sprayed and broadcasted to rice plants? “ The residues were mixed to the soil and to the leaves and directly absorbed by the roots and the leaves, and become a part of our rice grains when har-
vested? Who cares anyway when we are killing softly our selves and digging our own graves? Yes! We will not grow old. We will die young! We should all care!” -oooWEF-EA TO BENEFIT ONLY THE RICH: Why am I not so happy that the World Economic Forum on East Asia is being held right here in Manila, attended by Asia’s political and economic leaders? Really, the forum is an indication that the Philippines is on the way to becoming an economic success, but then, who will benefit the most from this? The rich and the mighty, of course, not the Filipino poor who will remain poor. I am expecting that in the aftermath of claims by the Aquino government that it successfully hosted the forum, the political machinery of President Aquino will start furiously working on the amendments to the 1987 Constitution which will open up more businesses and even land ownership See rich, page 11