One notorious imperilment on media

          I was a typical 6th grader when I first took a glance on journalism. Subconsciously, I have regarded the latter as another way of simply writing what one wants to write. Believe me, I've distinguished journalism first-hand as part of the you-write-a-thing-to-feed-boredom category. On one hand, it practically means you write just for plain entertainment and nothing else goes beyond.

        Throughout those years, I've taken only a modicum of comprehension towards what journalism really has to say. Little has it but I have managed to know more about it in a gradual process. The awareness indeed is not achieved through an overnight basis but rather in a longer term. Furthermore, never have I been so literally shocked about its ulterior side. My mouth gaped open when I've discovered few of the inevitable risks in the profession. The very word that struck my alter-ego to its highest peak was the word “death.” I could terribly imagine how this word effuses its way in and traverses with the profession. Though it felt like I was caught in the middle of a catastrophe, it was also as if I have some feeble reasons as to continue feeling a partial of indifference against the risk. But inevitably, I could hear the clamor of fear and the tumults of hesitation. From the pit of my stomach down to the soles of my feet, I've barely mulled over to the idea of a ‘journalist’ and ended up in complete utter; to be or not to be: that is the question. Right at this juncture, I shall hide no lies and assert that there's still an iota of uncertainty towards going for the profession.

        On one way or another, I find yearning towards becoming a journalist, if a parcel of good fate is at hand. It's perplexing, is it not? My standpoint is extremely dilapidated due to the juxtaposition whether to pursue my career in the media or not. I may be a tattered novice and knows nothing of the standards on good journalism but gibberish thoughts instead, I somehow greed in finding enough faith towards exploiting my calling in the line of journalism. Inexplicably, I do hope that there will come one day where I could finally venture out that my career is fervently auctioned for journalism.

SONA 2010: a sensible retort

          As much as I wanted to watch President Aquino’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on television, still I would be deprived of possible chances due to my class schedule. The feeling would have been different if I were to hear the President’s voice rather than merely reading the widespread transactional copies of his speech via Internet. Anyhow, allow me to state my personal perspectives and standpoints about the latter.

            Truth be told, I wasn’t actually the type of person who had drastically supported Noynoy throughout the entire election. Young as I am, though I’m still not at the legal age to vote, I’ve somehow established my personal choice to which I shall be supporting. Apparently, I provoked myself from waving my flag for Noynoy. Because of these, I shall sincerely reveal that my views of the President are somehow prejudiced to some extent. But when I started reading a copy of his speech, those views radically changed in one fell swoop. The way the speech was composed had somehow knocked my predisposition down. The President’s SONA highlights the litany of ‘repulsive’ Arroyo-era ‘mistakes’ (as was the subhead for yesterday’s Sun.Star headline). 

             It was a good thing though to have a closer look on what seems to be the real doings of the country’s former President. I was vaguely aware of those revelations if it weren’t for the SONA though. To mention a few, here are some of the findings from the past administration. There was actually a massive misuse of funds during Arroyo’s era. Her administration spent more than it earned and as a result, a deficit of about P196.7 billion occurred for the first 6 months of this year’s budget. What is then left for the rest of the year? I feel disappointed and apprehensive at the same time because somehow, I yearn for President Aquino’s plans to be established effectively.

           One issue that left me awe-stricken was the issue among the Board of Trustees for the MWSS. Having been realized the various bonuses, additional allowances and benefits of these people made me utter in complete clamor: “amazing, just downright amazing!” I find no adequate reasons to recognize what pushed these people to be strongly inclined in doing such when in fact an immense number of people are vehemently suffering just for their own satisfaction and pleasure. Where could you even find a position in the government that grants you P14, 000 for every session done? This is revoltingly unbelievable and repulsively disappointing, I shall say. Even the La Mesa Watershed was not an exception. Instead of planting trees for the sufficiency of the watershed, houses were built for the higher officials of the MWSS. 

         Another was the fund for the country’s infrastructures. The DPWH classified 246 priority safety projects to be funded by the Motor Vehicle Users Charge. But it turned out that only 28 out of the 246 projects were funded. They disregarded the remaining 218 projects in exchange with 70 projects which were not part of the original plan. The budget for the allotted projects even got higher and by which the unplanned projects are enjoyed only to those chosen beneficiaries. Those are just some of the revelations that were discovered by our current administration.

          I’ve come to realize that what our President is facing are big issues which also need big and efficient solutions. As what the prominent line goes from a famous movie: “with great power comes great responsibility.” It may be tremendously true but in accord with that, I’d like also to denote, just as what some people would remarkably denote, that the responsibility is not held liable for our President alone but we as the countrymen should also be held liable for responsibility towards the success of our nation. 

            As a student taking up the degree program of Communication, I hardly appraise what the President said in the near-end of his speech. It tackles about the media especially the print and radio stating that the latter should be vigilant yet again for the country’s milieu and stick to what has been the basis of principle in the first place. 

          Furthermore, this is where the role of the press as watchdog is exploited. Another is to give the media consumers a clearer perspective towards an important issue. To be fair and straightforward prior to every subject, the media shall then report without fear or favor the shenanigans of a particular topic of interest. The most challenging part was to intensify the level of public discourse. There was actually something from these lines that drew me to conclude that President Noynoy trusted the media by some means.

          To end this all up, allow me to share this saying that goes, “Ask not what the country can do for you but ask what you can do for the betterment of your country.”