Overthinking

Kim now overthinks at Overthinking over thinking.

‘Write stories, seek the truth’—veteran journalist to students

“It is very important to talk about the truth now that we have an opaque government,”

said Malou Mangahas, a veteran journalist who now heads the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

In the forum “Re: PubliKo—Ang republiko, ang publiko at ako” sponsored last week by the Civil Service Commission in the University of the Philippines Diliman Film Institute, Mangahas encouraged students and other participants to “help seek the truth” by writing stories of corruption or wrongdoing in their communities.

Stressing the need for public participation in the search for truth and the vital role played by the emerging trend of citizen journalism, Mangahas asked the audience to remain vigilant even when there seems to be nothing wrong in government.

“We only rally together when we are ousting a president but the question is: What do we do next?” Mangahas said.

Mangahas also reiterated the need for a Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill, a proposed legislation that is yet to be passed by Congress.

“The right to information is the bedrock of every citizen’s fundamental rights,” Mangahas added.

If enacted, the FOI Bill will serve as enabling law to the constitutional guarantee on access information of public concern, enshrined in Section 7, Article III of the 1987 Constitution.

The Senate and the House of Representatives have reconciled the two versions of the bill in both chambers but the lower house failed to ratify the Bicameral Conference Committee report during its last session, before calling for the canvass of votes for president and vice president in the May 2010 elections.

Although the constitution clearly recognizes freedom of information, Mangahas said that the absence of clear-cut policies or rules provide reason and excuse to withhold information that should otherwise be public.

She mentioned as an example a Supreme Court (SC) resolution prohibiting access to the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) of justices in the high tribunal. PCIJ is known for publishing stories of “lifestyle checks” on public officials where they validate the SALNs.

Responding to a question from the audience, who raised the issue of the WikiLeaks scandal and how it validates doubt against the FOI Bill, Mangahas said that the bill also has provisions on considering public interest in withholding information.

WikiLeaks is an online information database which recently published confidential information from the United States government.

Mangahas also reassured the audience of the value of ethics in Philippine journalism. “The WikiLeaks method is far more creative than what any journalist is capable of doing,” she said.

In calling Pacquiao to the ring, let the announcer include ‘Honorable’

CONGRESSMAN PACQUIAO While other public officials are frowned at at the slightest hint of unruly behavior, people will cheer for Pacquiao, an elected representative of Congress, when he beats someone up this Sunday. (Photo from Pinoy Weekly BOY BAGWIS)

Every boxing match Manny Pacquiao fights is a proud moment for Filipinos. On days when the pound-per-pound king takes on the boxing ring, traffic is unbelievably light, chores are absent-mindedly forgotten and the usually ubiquitous tricycles magically disappear. All eyes are glued to the tube.

But in his fight against Antonio Margarito, another boxer who seems to brush off the curse against Mexicans who dare challenge Pacquiao, General Santos’ homegrown sports superstar will no longer be just the best boxer in the world. He will be a member of this country’s legislature clad in nothing but shorts, welcoming punches. Never mind the world boxing titles he wears around his waist.

‘Status syndrome’ in government linked to poverty

Published in VERA Files, October 9, 2010

AT first, politicians attend to needs. After some time, the needs turn to wants and desires. Soon the desire becomes greed. Then, to satisfy greed, they push the country to the brink of poverty.

Communications expert Cesar Mercado calls this the “stairway to poverty,” a phenomenon seen at work in developing countries and even in international development organizations.

Mercado, founder of the research and consultancy organization Development Council for Asia Africa Pacific (DCAAP), analyzed poverty using a behavioral perspective in his book Reinventing Social Technologies for Developing Countries launched recently.

He said many poverty programs in the Philippines fail due to “status syndrome,” a term he used to refer to the Filipinos’ penchant for overemphasizing the importance of prestige or status in society.

“All forms of yabang (arrogance) are symptoms (of the status syndrome),” said Mercado, a former planning, monitoring and evaluation specialist of the United Nations Development Program.

He cited as an example the use of wang-wang, the term popularized by President Benigno Aquino III in lambasting politicians’ overuse of sirens and escorts to evade traffic rules.

Deaf kids make music in school of love and hope

Published in VERA Files, September 25, 2010

MUSIC IN SIGN LANGUAGE Members of the rondalla of Paaralang Pag-ibig at Pag-asa, mostly deaf, play by following what their trainer, Lina Mercado, gestures to them in sign language.

MUSIC broke the silence of a humid Monday afternoon in a small neighborhood in San Pablo City.  Inside a school gymnasium along a poorly paved road, a rondalla, an ensemble of string instruments, rehearsed melodic pieces for everyone to hear—everyone except those playing them.

Those who held the guitars, the 12-stringed bandurrias and lauds and the double bass, are students of Paaralang Pag-ibig at Pag-asa—School of Love and Hope—a public special education (SPED) center in this city in Laguna, about 100 km south of Metro Manila.

Most of the 35 members of the group suffer from hearing impairment; others are blind or with learning disabilities.