Ducky Paredes

 “He asked Philippine media to maintain credibility, integrity, fairness and accuracy based on the principle of getting the facts.”

by Ducky Paredes

The President had some good points in his critique of the media at the Philippine Press Institute’s 16th National Press Forum on “Media Accountability and Public Engagements” and Annual Membership meeting held at the Traders Hotel.  Actually, it is not the work of the media to project a good image of his government or of the country; neither is it media’s task to project a bad one. In fact, on some of the points, the President should also examine what his government is doing.

For instance, on the recent state visit of the emir of Qatar, he said local media highlighted the fact that the visit was shortened by a day.  Even if the agreements signed were also given space, the main focus was on the abrupt end of the State Visit, giving the visit a touch of the sinister.

The President explained that Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thaniis had to cut short his April 10 to 11 visit because of an emergency in his country.

I wonder though whether the Malacanang Press Office even had a press release explaining why the Emir was in such a hurry to get back home.

If the Emir had an emergency and no one told the reporters about it, how would the media know about it? I am sure no one in the local press had any access to the Emir or his people. In fact, the president’s speech was the first time I heard of an emergency in Qatar.

On his complaints about the false report of his being seen on a noon date while he was actually attending a meeting in Malacanang, he just has to expect more of this sort of false reports, every now and then. With the full blossoming of social media, because many of those tweeting will make mistakes, no one is safe anymore. Everyone, not only presidents, can become the subject of a tweet or a Facebook entry, which could well, be totally false.

Aquino also wondered aloud how it is that foreign media, and not the local media, recognize the reforms his administration has been implementing. The President cites Newsweek’s praises for the country’s taking a stand against China in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea issue, and Time Magazine’s article about the growing dynamism of the Philippines.

 The President said. “I am not asking that you make up stories (kwentong kutsero) to make us smell good. But if we weigh things properly and think that every word affects the life of every Filipino, I am sure that we can more easily attain our collective dream for our country.”

He also said some of travel advisories issued by countries are based on negative reports by Philippine media. He is right that these negative reports drive away tourists and potential investors.

Our quick answer regarding foreign media reports: Perhaps, Malacanang took the time to talk seriously to the foreign correspondent, making available data they needed to write about the good news.

The unkindest cut was when the President compared us in media to the “Pilipinong alimango.”

Said His Excellency: “Nasa alaala ko pa po ang kuwento ng mga Pilipinong alimang0. 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. Ang sabi ng Amerikano: ‘Buddy, your crabs are about to escape.’ Ang sagot naman ng Pilipino: ‘Don’t bother; they’re Filipino crabs. Before they get out they’ll be pulled in.’” 

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In comparing how media was in his younger days and now, he seemed to idealize the past: Time was when, he said,  “we hardly saw misspelled words, let alone wrong information” in newspapers.

 “Nandiyan pa po kaya ang prinsipyo ng get it first and get it right?” he asked.

He asked Philippine media to maintain credibility, integrity, fairness and accuracy based on the principle of getting the facts.

“We are probably the only nation in this world that report out all the negative travel advisories about our country in our media.  These travel advisories come from the perceptions of  ambassadors who are having a tough time in the Philippines. Many of their impressions and opinions come from what the newspapers and television

Aquino said that if the media were just more “careful and balanced” in their reporting, more foreign tourists would visit the country. He said the target of attracting 10 million international visitors yearly by 2016 could be achieved as he noted that for February 2012 alone, the number of foreign tourists coming to Philippines surpassed 411,000.

He added that if we compute the February record of tourist arrivals and maintain that figure, we will be able to achieve more than 4.8 million tourists to arrive this year.

Noynoy says: “Just think how fast we can reach that goal if what we report is positive news about the Philippines rather than stressing the negative.”

On a particular story, the President reminded everyone how the media played up the news of carnapping incidents last year thereby making a bad impression to the country. Yet, when one of the culprits — Raymond Dominguez — was convicted last week, “nobody from the media hailed the government, the prosecutors or the police.”

Aquino said: “Magkatambal po ang ating mga tungkulin: Kami, bilang nasa gobyerno, at kayo, bilang tagapaghatid ng katotohanan. Ang pagtupad sa tungkuling natutuhan na po nating hilingin sa gobyerno, ay siya rin sanang pagtupad sa tungkuling puwede nating asahan mula sa lahat: Katapatan sa katotohanan, pantay na pagsusuri, at pagtutok sa kung ano ang makabubuti sa taumbayan.”

Since the IPI forum was revived 25 years ago, this is the first time that the country’s head of state addressed the annual gathering of owners, publishers and editors from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The event also marked the 48th founding year of PPI since 1964.

IPI was stopped during martial law, re-activated after the People Power Revolution, and incorporated in 1987. The National Press Forum gathers owners and publishers of the country’s 72 active publications in Manila.

PPI is a non-stock, non-profit private organization duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission whose principal mandate is to defend press freedom and promote ethical standards for the professional development of the Filipino journalists.

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hvp 04.25.12

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com

 “Certainly, traffic improved after the slots were installed on Katipunan Avenue, where the new MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino will hold consultation to begin a review of the scheme.”

by Ducky Paredes

Isn’t it odd that Director-General Nicanor Bartolome and his whole Philippine National Police (PNP) seems not to have any clue to the whereabouts of the country’s four top fugitives – retired military general Jovito Palparan; former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother Coron Mayor Mario Reyes; and Dinagat Islands Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr.

We can’t blame the Director-General. He is certainly trying:

“I have already ordered even the regional directors and provincial commanders outside Mindanao to help us in this effort, this is part of our intensified operations to get them.

“So this operation is already national in scope.” Of course, it has to be national. This is one country  where one can be anywhere within a few hours, especially if one has the money for it.

While the reader is expected to already know about Palparan and the Reyes brothers, here’s a bit about the latest fugitive.

Ecleo, supreme leader of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) which his late father founded, has been convicted of his wife Alona’s murder in 2002 and sentenced to reclusion perpetua having to pay the heirs of his wife Ph25 million in damages.

Palparan, retired general-turned-partylist representative, wanted for the disappearance of University of the Philippines (UP) student-activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno in 2006, may be the hardest one to find. Being trained as a soldier, he knows how to hide.

The Reyeses, prime suspects in the murder of broadcast journalist and environmentalist, Gerry Ortega, have enough supporters in Palawan who believe them to be innocent; but it would be foolish of them to hide out in that province, where there are also a good number who would turn them in, if they knew where the Reyes brothers were.

Perhaps, what the Director-General ought to be doing instead of giving press conferences is to lead the search for this Big Four, before the official count of fugitives under Director-General Nick Bartolome increases exponentially.

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The ideas of the U-turn was a good one when it was first broached by the then Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando. A cousin, who took Bayani around on a visit to Australia early on, says that BF might have picked up the idea with the small rotundas that they had in Melbourne, where my cousin lived.

Certainly, when the U-turns were installed, these helped. BF used to say that, as an engineer, he looked at the flow of traffic in the same way that water behaved and that the U-turn slots were as pipes that allowed traffic to effortlessly change direction. Certainly, traffic improved after the slots were installed on Katipunan Avenue, where the new MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino will hold consultation to begin a review of the scheme.

Tolentino is reviewing the effect of U-turn slots and evaluating whether these were still necessary under the current traffic conditions.

The consultation marks the start of the MMDA’s Metro Traffic Watch Program where residents of affected communities will be consulted and given a say on traffic solutions to be implemented in their areas.

Of the 177 U-turn slots in Metro Manila, at least six will go, including the ones in front of Quezon Institute in Quezon City and on Marcos Highway. The rest will undergo a five-step evaluation process under the Metro Traffic Watch Program, ending with a dialogue with the community.

I tell you what — the U-turn slot solved a lot of problems and taught us motorists the advantages of having traffic discipline. We convinced ourselves (most of us, anyway) that forcing our way and causing traffic to stop was not the way to go. Thus, now, we can re-think the traffic for the more rational drivers that most of us have become. Thanks to Bayani Fernando!

We shall see how the Tolentino approach works. The present MMDA Chairman justifies the MMDA’s course of action by pointing out that the residents know their community better than anyone.

By giving the residents a say, Tolentino says: “I guess others will find it hard to oppose the proposal because the ones who crafted it have lived in the area longer than anyone. How can you argue [with] that? We’re letting the people there decide. Why will you let the people not even residing there to decide?”

We shall see. It may turn out that residents care only about residents and not the greater number of non-resident drivers who are on Katipunan Avenue on a daily basis.

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The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) will push for a much-needed amendment of the Labor Code and a review of the country’s minimum wage at the 33rd National Conference of Employers (NCE) that starts today.

Employers would take away government’s power to legislate wages. To the bosses, , what they pay their workers is basically a function of the enterprises’ ability to absorb additional payroll costs.

To ECOP, labor does not benefit from legislated wages as any increase is eaten away by the resulting rise in prices of basic commodities.  In fact, the thinking seems to be that wages dictated by law removes competition in the labor market. He pointed out that it is better for the economy to have less unemployment with workers getting lower wages.

On the other hand, higher levels of efficiency will be easier to attain if wages are determined by the productive capacity of workers that, he said, normally results in higher levels of efficiency.

Is it true that management will be afraid to lose efficient workers to competitors who would pay them higher wages or is the employers’ attitude that he can always find other workers who can be made as efficient?

ECOP president Edgardo Lacson says that based on the Consumer Price Index, the wage hike should only be P8!.

“Our policymakers should be very careful. In any wage increase, three factors come together: economic, political and emotional. That P8 is subject to consultation. Any wage increase should be subject to consultations. Elements like inflation and the employers’ capacity to pay should be considered. Should there be an increase in wages? If so, by how much? Does rising oil price constitute supervening condition?” Lacson asks.

A P125-a-day across-the-board legislated wage hike being pushed by the House committee on labor would cost companies P300 billion a year that. according to the ECOP, would wipe out establishments and endanger the jobs of 300,000 workers.

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hvp 04.24.12

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com

“Machines, like everything else (roads, bridges, buildings, airports and so on) become obsolete and breakdown from age and use.  The only way to handle them is to set aside funds for replacements for the time that they need to be totally replaced.”

 by Ducky Paredes

Why would nuclear reactors be acceptable in Mindanao but not in Luzon? What is our President thinking? Nuclear technology, no matter how safe they can make it, will still kill in the event of a system failure, which can come from any source of trouble such as those tidal waves that caused the reactors in Japan to fail.

Someone who knows what he is talking about is our former ambassador to Japan Domingo Siazon who is a physicist and is familiar with nuclear reactors.  The Former Secretary of Foreign Affairs rules out nuclear for the Philippines. It can produce power more cheaply but if anything goes wrong, there’s hell to pay.

Actually, the Mindanao power problem should have been tackled some years back. The problem with the way that we look at our energy problems is the way that we look at our jeepnets. We keep hoping that things that have outlived their life spans will not break down or cause us problems. We tend to keep our cars forever and treat machinery, such as our power generators the same way.  We wait for them to stop and tinker with them to get them working again.

The better way would be to plot out their obsolescence and not hope that machines with a lifespan of 20 years will be useful for 40 or more years.

 Machines, like everything else (roads, bridges, buildings, airports and so on) become obsolete and breakdown from age and use.  The only way to handle them is to set aside funds for replacements for the time that they need to be totally replaced. Unfortunately, we don’t see our government agencies doing this, In fact, most will treat these finite things as though one could just keep using them forever. Well, the truth is that we can’t just keep using them year after year.  They will eventually stop and the time will come when they will need a complete overhaul or, worse, they become just another piece of junk.

Everything man-made has an expiry date. The best way to handle them is to replace them before they get to their expiry.

With power, one also has to look at the usage. Clearly, as the island was growing, there were more users of electricity with each passing year.

I remember when, as newlyweds we lived in Medina, her family’s hometown in Misamis Oriental. Her grandfather had the power generator that served the town way back when. By the time we lived there, it would only be sparingly used and the power of the town was being supplied from other sources far from the town. Still, the old machine would sometimes still be of use, whenever the town had a brown-out. It was very expensive to use but we would have electricity at home even as the whole town would be in darkness.

The old house also had an ancient air conditioner that, whenever we turned it on, would still cool but it would also cause a brownout in the whole town.

* * *

I saw Vice President Jejomar Binay at a book launch for Former President Joseph Estrada hosted by the Foreign Correspondents of the Philippines at the Atrium of Enderun College on McKinley Hill at the Fort. Apparently, a lot of politicos, young and old are hoping that Jojo would pick them for his senatorial slate.

In fact, there were a few old warriors who seemed to be waiting for the Vice President to look their way but Binay kept to himself and spoke only with President Erap who was Jojo’s President in the 2010 elections.

Actually, the UNA line-up is for from set and Binay’s own partners — Erap’s son, Senator Jinggoy and Nene Pimentel’s son, Senator Koko — have their own ideas pn who  ought to be in and who out. Koko Pimentel is pushing for Migs Zubiri to be included in the electoral sabotage raps filed against Gloria and former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos. Apparently, and this was a surprise to me, Migs participated in the Dagdag-Bawas talk for that election and, according to my information, there are witnesses who have testified to this.

As for Jinggoy, his blast against including Gloria’s people in the UNA line-up could have been intended for Rep. Mitos Magsaysay of Zambales who was Gloria’s point guard in the Lower House.

By the way, Erap looks younger now than when I saw him about a year ago. He still keeps long hours though and still enjoys the company of his high school classmates. I’ll see him again tonight on his 75th Birthday.

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Valley Golf and Country Club’s 13th Don Celso Tuason and Valley Founders’ Cup annual tournament will be held from April 25 to 29 for a maximum of 280 players at the South and Executive courses. The tournament is a 36-hole two-player team competition (a member and his guest).  Club members will use their February 2010 Valley Golf Board Handicap Index.  Maximum handicap allowed for members for the tournament will be 36.

Guests must have an index of 20.8 or lower. Maximum handicap allowed for guests for the tournament will be 24.  In case the guest has a higher index than 20.8, he shall play to the maximum index allowed.

There will be booths selling golf paraphernalia throughout the tournament.

Several Mitsubishi cars will be raffled off.

Unlike in prior years, there will be cocktails after the afternoon flights on Friday, April 28 and a full-course dinner at the Awards Night on Saturday, April 29.

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hvp 04.18.12

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com