It’s Press Freedom Week once again in Cebu!

Last Sunday, once more, Cebu media launched the annual celebration of 12th Press Freedom Week… a celebration rare in Philippine Journalism because it is only celebrated in Cebu and not throughout the rest of the country. If you want to know why Press Freedom Week is celebrated only in Cebu, I can only suggest that you throw back that question to anyone among our Manila-based newspapers. World Press Freedom, I believe, is celebrated on May 3 and this is the only Press Freedom celebration that I know of in this country.

We celebrate Press Freedom Week in Cebu at this time because on Sept. 21, 1972, President Ferdinand E. Marcos chose to shed his legal presidential clothes and donned the uniform of a ruthless dictator. Author David Wallechnisky wrote what a dictator is, "A ‘dictator’ is a head of state who exercises arbitrary authority over the lives of his citizens and who cannot be removed from power through legal means." Press Freedom and the truth was the first victim of Martial Law declared by Marcos.

Last Monday, a pooled editorial entitled "Journalism’s Litmus Test" was published in the three local dailies — The Freeman, SunStar Daily, and the Cebu Daily News, which is this year’s lead convenor. The message that the pooled editorial sent was, "Journalism should consider itself a service, rather than a power." The editorial was also broadcast on Cebu’s FM radio stations and television channels. Given that the island of Cebu lies in the middle of the Philippines, the aired broadcast was heard in most of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Inside the Cebu Provincial Capitol’s Social Hall last Sunday, the staff and workers of all media outlets were dressed in colorful shirts to identify their respective organizations. Everyone greeted each other so warmly, you’d never think or believed that we are competitors in that cutthroat newspaper, radio or TV broadcast industry. This is why I’m always proud to say that I am a member of the Cebu media… through The Freeman and of course, with the national media through The Philippine STAR.

Kudos to The Freeman for winning almost all the contests of the Press Freedom"s opening day. Ardelle Merton, the muse (she writes a weekly Kidstuff section and column in The Freeman), won the title of Ms. Press Freedom Week. The Freeman won as the most colorful and the liveliest contingent and tied with SunStar Daily to win the early bird contest. Correspondent Ramil Ayuman won the Rockstar contest, while SunStar Daily was named as the most orderly contingent. The kickoff ceremonies this year were sponsored by Smart Communications and PLDT.

Last Sunday’s kick-off ceremonies began with a parade and a Holy Mass officiated by our beloved Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who, in his homily, challenged the Cebu media "to teach and be taught by media as a God-given power to stand up for what is true even if I’m standing alone." Perhaps, the masthead of The Philippine STAR promotes this thought…"Truth shall prevail."

While the Cebu press is considered the "Free-ist" in the country because our media practitioners do carry a lot of stories, I, however, submit that we still do have our share of those so-called "scalawags," many of them posing as legitimate media by purchasing "block time" in radio stations so they could use it for personal or political gain. Last week, I was the subject of a personal attack by such unscrupulous characters because I wrote in The Freeman about someone who pays for his advertisements. While they are a minority, media should have no part with such unscrupulous radio commentators.

If any, I do have a dream and a hope that someday, Cebu’s Press Freedom Week will be celebrated nationwide. This, of course, is not for the Cebu media to decide, but for our counterparts in Manila to come and join us in this noble celebration of Press Freedom Week.

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Last Friday, we wrote an article about the proposed law on drinking under the influence (DUI) and it elicited a lot of responses. Here are a few.

"Hi Bobit, How are you? Just finished reading your piece on DUI. Six years ago, I was caught and convicted here in Canada for drinking and driving. I was not able to drive for a year, had to go through ‘awareness’ courses and the worst, my car insurance (four cars in the family all under my name) ballooned from C$1,280/ year to C$1,960 per month from the time I started driving again to the end of fifth year after the conviction. That was just for the ‘first offense’ penalty. You get caught the second time, you’ll be almost dead. The third time, you’re dead. 

"I now kind of understand that the penalty imposed on me is actually good. It woke me up. By the way, Ton-ton Rizarri and I had a grand time with our wives in Zurich around end of August. I proceeded to Munich, Prague and on to Vienna. I am off to Beijing in two weeks and a sidetrip to Cebu after. I’ll give you a shout if you don’t mind. Best regards to you and your family. Fred Casino."

Here’s another e-mail still about the DUI issue from Jesse de la Rosa:

"Dear Mr. Avila, I agree with this question. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area (the city of South San Francisco to be exact), and I experienced this law personally here in the US. A friend of mine and I went to a local casino to have dinner after playing tennis. We both had two glasses of wine while having dinner. On the way home I was stopped by the police for going over the speed limit by five miles (the limit was 40 miles per hour). He smelled alcohol on us and told me that I had to take a Breathalyzer test.  

"Luckily, I passed the test. A drunk driving violation here costs approximately $10,000 in fines and other fees (such as attorney’s fees and bail), not to mention the suspension of your driving license for at least six months. From then on, I have always taken a taxi or have someone pick me up if I had been drinking. My question is, how are they (the Philippine police) going to enforce this law? How are they going to know if someone is legally drunk while driving? Providing a Breathalyzer to the police will be very expensive. Yours truly, Jesse de la Rosa."

Thanks to our friends who live abroad where DUI is strictly enforced. Just look at the cost of violating the DUI law and we can only hope that we would have the political will to pass our law on DUI.

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For e-ail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns in The Freeman can also be accessed through The Philippine STAR website. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable. Bobit’s columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com.