Yes, there’s a lot of good news out there!

Whether you folks believe or not, there is without any doubt too much negativism in the National Capital Region and most of it is reflected by media eager to sensationalize stories, making mountains out of molehills, especially when it comes to political stories. A case in point is the big-time coverage for that non-entity that calls itself the Citizen’s Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA), a.k.a. the "People’s Court," which to most people is nothing but a "kangaroo court," not much different from what the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has been practicing for decades when it executes innocent people who cross its path.

So why the hell are we in media giving this kangaroo court so much publicity when it has no legal authority from the Filipino people to conduct its unwanted business? If you ask me, it is downright insulting to taxpayers that it is using the University of the Philippines Theater, a publicly owned facility that shouldn’t be misused for such foolishness. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe their theatrics prove that they’re in the right place… a theater! But even with the presence of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona as the presiding officer of this circus, it still doesn’t make it legit.

Come now, we already know the verdict of this kangaroo court. They will "convict" President Arroyo and declare her "impeached" and the biggest beneficiary of this brouhaha would be the Vice President because that is the next obvious step. Now isn’t that what the opposition has always wanted to happen? So why is the media still playing their game until now?

Last Oct. 21, we wrote a column entitled, "Media: Playing into the Hands of Protesters!" That stemmed from the text messages we got obviously coming from those protesters who got "canonized" in Mendiola exactly a month ago. Those people got irked at The STAR editors for not carrying their story on the front page with the photos… so they spread the word to boycott The STAR. Now isn’t that blackmail? They also want to dictate what news should be out.

Talk about threats to press freedom! It’s about time for us to print the good news happening to this country. For instance, despite what the doomsayers have forewarned, the EVAT hasn’t really affected this country as was woefully predicted. So let’s get rid of all that negativism and start seeing the good side of the Philippines, and I assure you, there’s plenty of that!

* * *

Last Thursday, I took the two-hour dawn trip on the SuperCat from Cebu to Ormoc City and rode another two hours to Tacloban City to speak at the two-day Empower Seminar-Workshop for Media Practitioners and Info Officers, hosted by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Region 8 office at the Small and Medium Enterprise and Development Center (SMED). I was invited by PIA-Region 8 director Erlinda Olivia P. Tiu, whose husband is Mayor Roque A. Tiu of the municipality of Tanauan and a former Rotary governor. Olive is a friend of my wife Jessica, who helped her promote Waray delicacies during one of the food festivals in Manila. They met during our Rotary days.

I was tasked to talk about "Mainstreaming Good News in Print and Broadcast." A hundred media practitioners and information officers from all over Region 8, that’s the islands of Leyte and Samar, attended the seminar/workshop. It was also a chance for me to meet PIA Director General Renato Velasco and the youthful and energetic Leyte Gov. Carlos Jericho "Ekot" Petilla. They both gave their speeches before they allowed me to talk.

While Manila wallows in negativism, I found Gov. Petilla’s speech oozing with optimism. Being well-versed in information technology (IT), the governor proudly talked about an innovation that resulted in better governance. He installed computerized biometric (you need your fingerprint to punch in or out) daily time record machines, which replaced their outdated Bundy clocks. Doing so meant that provincial employees could no longer let their alalays punch their cards if they’re late or leave their work ahead of time. Gov. Petilla is one rare governor, using high technology to assure Leyteño taxpayers that they would no longer be shortchanged by their government employees.

Gov. Petilla had a lot to say, alas, we just don’t have enough space to print the many changes he introduced in Leyte province. As expected, the speech of PIA Director General Renato Velasco was in line with Malacañang’s current appeal to media practitioners not to follow their counterparts in Manila in promoting only negative stories. I checked the two local newspapers, the Eastern Times headlined "Red tide alert still on," while the Leyte-Samar Daily Express came up with "PGMA’s alter ego in EV says he’s not resigning." Nope, I didn’t find any story about the creation of a kangaroo court in Manila.

I was quite surprised that a lot of those in the audience know me as a columnist who fiercely protects the interests of the Visayan-speaking people. That’s what Alvin Arpon, former PIA officer in Region 8, told me, that he first read my articles when we were in the Good News Section of The STAR.

Basically, the message I gave to our Waray audience was not to get carried away by the negativism of Metro Manila. I used the Cebu experience as an example. During the dark years of Martial Law, Tacloban City was the favored city in the South. After all, Super Ma’am Imeldific hails from there. But Cebu, being the political bastion of the late Sen. Serging Osmeña Jr., was neglected by the Marcoses. We did not wait for the government to promote our tourism industry; we called ourselves "An Island in the Pacific" and voila, we had a tourism industry, which today, with the help of God, continues to flourish.

Too often, we rely on the government or even the President to bring us to the road to prosperity… and yet, the Presidency has always failed us. I also found out that Leyteños overwhelmingly voted for a federal Philippines when the Consultative Commission (Con-com) was in Tacloban recently. But I had to cut their euphoria by saying that we’re not even halfway in this epic struggle. There are too many people who want to prevent the creation of states, as they and their vested interests are a threat to their provinces. We shall write on this topic in our column this Wednesday. Meanwhile, let me just say that it was good that I met our media counterparts in Eastern Visayas so we could exchange ideas and promote better understanding among us in the Visayas.

* * *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.