Adapting to the changing Trends of Online Journalism and Social Media

The internet ushered in a new age of enlightenment, a period where information can be consumed and propagated anywhere, from your home to a hotel room halfway around the world, data can now be streamed and received in an instant. The same could also be said for the profession of journalism.

Today there is an ever growing shift from more traditional mediums to more unconventional ones. This is primarily brought upon by the advent of the internet. From a global perspective, almost all news organizations have an online service, where the public could find almost all of the information available from the more traditional medium like print or broadcast. Locally, large online news organizations dominate the internet, all the three major broadsheets have websites and the two largest TV networks have a strong online presence as well.

But with the growth of the internet, more people have been involved in the process of news making. The so called troop of citizen journalists, or people who have no journalism training who have utilized the internet to deliver news, have seen a steady rise. The internet has grown to be a viable medium where the citizenry feels empowered enough to defy editorial agenda and set it themselves.

This practice of a more involved public in the news making process is slowly being integrated in the country, where organizations like GMA and ABS-CBN have utilized social media and then internet as a whole to provide news from a community perspective. GMA has YouScoop a website attached to its news service where the public can upload, photos videos and stories through the internet or through Short Messaging Service (SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). On the other hand ABS-CBN has the iPatrol where the public can produce its own news package and broadcast it in the networks primetime news programs such as TV Patrol and Bandila. These examples also utilized viewer involvement by contributing other angles that has not been explored by the news program.

With the changes brought upon by the growth of the internet both locally and internationally, news organizations do not only experience positive transformations but negative as well. In the United States and other western countries where the internet is more prevalent, because of stronger and more reliable internet services, newspapers are folding up due to bankruptcy. Some newspapers have been badly hurt by the growth of the online news media, first because it is offered free to the public unlike newspapers which you have to buy from a newsstand or pay for through subscription packages. Second, because the online medium, as it stands now, has no substantial and reliable business model.  Advertising online is not similar to advertising through print and broadcast, as they say it’s a different animal.

“[The biggest problem for a news website is] keeping up with our users’ ever-changing media consumption habits. Technologies and platforms are changing on a month to month basis. We have to keep up with all the formats being demanded of us. Another major problem is business model.  Traditional business models as have been practiced in television, print, and radio no longer necessarily apply to the web.  The market for online advertising in the Philippines is still emerging. One major challenge is how to justify the continued investment of resources in web and mobile while not being able to deliver immediate return. The key is to keep experimenting so that a viable business model emerges for online news,” GMA News Online Multimedia Producer Pia Faustino said.

But if the online medium has a problem, the traditional mediums are in a conundrum. In a study conducted by American Public Relations Firm Oriella which asked 770 editors from 15 countries about how they see online journalism affecting their organizations, 53% believe that many news organizations may be pushed to fold or close because of the emergence of online media. It also revealed that 1 in 6 of those surveyed had already experienced the closure of their organization because of the sudden increase of online media usage.

With the threats and opportunities posed by the online medium to more traditional mediums it is safe to surmise that the internet has brought many changes to the field of journalism. Some would even argue that it has shaken things up so much that it is now edging out the other, more traditional, mediums of mass communication. It has exposed the weaknesses that had come to define the mediums utilized by journalist. It had made many see that newspapers lacked immediacy and broadcast lacked depth and insight, the internet had both and so much more, it is a virtual one-stop shop, where videos, sound bites, and articles abound.

“[The online medium is] very viable. More and more people are turning to the internet for their daily news. In fact, the internet presents a different problem than before. Whereas previously, people dealt with the lack of information, our generation now deals with a surplus of information. There is a greater and greater need to make sense of the wealth of information that is out there, and to help ordinary people determine what is important and what is true. That’s where news websites still serve their purpose,” Faustino said.

The future of social media in journalism

Social media has been very important in the lives of most Filipinos. It has served as a way to communicate with others in a very convenient way. All that was needed was a basic internet connection and a computer and instantly the user is connected to all of his friends and contacts all around the country and the world.

This idea of instant connection has been a very big hit all around the globe. Filipino started getting hooked to it through Friendster and later on Facebook and now many other social networking sites like Twitter, Foursquared, LinkedIn and Google+.

The same advantages posed by these sites has been attractive to news organizations all around the world, with events happening at break-neck speed and at different locations, news organizations can form stories through contribution of the public, this is called crowd-sourced stories. But aside from this, news outfits have also taken great measures to include social networking to the way they deliver the news.

“Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter are getting way more traffic than almost any website, including news websites, in the Philippines. On one hand these sites are competition for our networks, but on the other hand they also present an opportunity as these social networking sites greatly influence the news that people consume. We have to find more ways to make our stories and content social or viral in nature, and to leverage social media as a news distribution channel,” Faustino said.

Organizations like CNN, BBC, Reuters, Agence France Presse, and the Associated Press have all kept several social media accounts. The same is also the case for local organizations like GMA and ABS-CBN. All of these organizations have teams devoted to updating the public about breaking news through social networking sites.

“Social media has become so dominant online that we have had to form a special team focused solely on managing our social media presence. There are six full-time employees who manage our FB [Facebook] and Twitter 24/7, both pushing stories out and pulling in content and feedback,” Faustino said.

This practice is slowly turning out as the norm in the changing fields of the profession.

But technology site Mashable.com said that the social media in the journalistic concept would soon die out, as every report would have a social aspect to it.

“The future of social media in journalism will see the death of ―social media.‖ That is, all media as we know it today will become social, and feature a social component to one extent or another. After all, much of the web experience, particularly in the way we consume content, is becoming social and personalized,” an editorial at Mashable.com said.

The editorial added that this trend would lead to more people working as citizen journalists reporting about things that happen in their communities, while professional journalists would provide insight and much needed context to these events. This will mean that journalists would become more participatory in the community and would have a more active citizenship—one where they are not only storytellers but also catalysts for effective change.

The editorial also explains that the process of involving the public in delivering the news would redefine what we know about collaborative reporting now. Mashable.com says that in the present context collaborative reporting means there is collaboration between the reporter and his traditional source, they work together to develop a story that is insightful, informative and enlightening. But with the emergence of new media the public now writes the news, they dictate what should be talked about and what should be prioritized. They also have become empowered because social media enables them to tell the story as they see it. Many users who have first-hand experience of an event that is deemed news worthy are in a better place to put the events in context as they experienced for themselves.

“Social media by its very definition is a participatory medium. There is a potential for greater engagement and connection with the community, but only if journalists are open to ceding a degree of editorial control to the community,” Alfred Hermida an Integrated Journalism Professor at the University of British Columbia said.

The pay-off for this practice of journalism has the capacity to be great. A startup company in Washington, D.C. called TBD.com has enlisted some bloggers to help the website put-together stories which has led them to gain scoops about several events around the capital of the United States.

Locally, community based news organizations like Bulacan’s Mabuhay! have used social media to incite discussion about several local topics in last year’s election. The weekly newspaper hosted a miting de avance of candidates for the gubernatorial seat in the province. The questions were sourced from audience members who were invited through social networking sites.  Mabuhay!  used the information they gathered in this forum to publish several special interest stories about the problems of the province and how the candidates aimed to solve those problems.

“Journalists must be able to pivot quickly between the ideas of using the community as a source of news and as the audience for news, because they are both,” Storyful.com Editor David Clinch said.

 

Community as a source of news

Established practices and beliefs in the profession are starting to be called into questions and in the process, journalists are turning more and more to unconventional means of data- gathering.

One vibrant example of this is the American initiative, Public Insight Network (PIN). According to Andrew Haeg, a Minneapolis-based journalist and one of the founding members of PIN, the program is a “targeted and data-driven, crowd sourcing program.” Targeted in a sense that the program focuses at a specific group of people at a specific point in time; for example if a journalist would want to discuss cardiovascular diseases, to gather information about this,  he would tailor-fit the methodologies he would use for his interviewee. In the model used by PIN, a person with specialty in the subject would be the target source of the journalist, may he be a medical professional, a patient or a family member of a patient suffering from the disease, they would fill out the questionnaires which would be processed for the use of the writer and all the other answers would be stored in a database for future resource and use of other journalists.

According to Haeg, who recently visited Manila to deliver a series of lectures about social media and networked journalism, this process of gathering information from the widest variety of people in effect widens the horizons and prospective of a journalist as it allows him to write more in-depth and more analytical stories which in return informs the public more and allows them to form informed opinions and choices.

“The journalist taps into community sources, who are more informed and more invested in the problems that surround them, they have first-hand information about the topics that journalists would want to write about,” Haeg said.

PIN uses a simple website where a question, posted by a journalist who belongs in one of their partner news organization, is answered by people who have direct knowledge about the topic that is being discussed. The form is laid out simply and can be easily filled out by anyone.

Haeg said that this kind of data form is inviting to users who want to contribute to a developing story, as it presents a no frills and no hassle way to contribute. A source’s identity is also protected as only accredited members of PIN’s network has direct access to it.

Haeg added that the system also allows the public to bring their concerns directly to the forefront of the public agenda. He told one anecdote where a local newspaper with the help of Haeg’s network documented the illegal use of trailer trucks of secondary roads. The heavy load carried by these trucks can quickly weaken paved roads. It also poses great danger to residents as it can cause accidents. To resolve this problem, people in the neighborhood started jotting down plate numbers of trailer trucks and sent it over the PIN website. With this information, the network contacted local authorities and soon, the ordinance banning these kinds of trucks in secondary roads was strictly enforced.

“This is an example of journalism which we employ in the Public Insight Network, it is proactive. We do not only get to write good stories that capture people’s attention but we also play a role in the resolution of the problem,” Haeg said.

It is this kind of results that Haeg wishes to bring a system much like the one currently used by PIN in the Philippines, as it poses great potential because of the high number of Filipinos with social networking profiles. The country also boasts its affinity for mobile phones.

But unlike in the United States where smartphones, or phones equipped with advanced connectivity options like Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and 3G which allows a user to be connected to the internet all the time, are commonplace, the Philippines has a very low smartphone to basic phone ratio. Thus, Haeg is pitching in with the idea to develop software that could register the contributions by a possible source through text or simple call. This would allow Filipinos, even those in far-flung areas to actively participate in crafting the news.

“This would be an important tool, that would further reinvigorate Philippine democracy, as it would allow more people to be heard by your government, this would also open doors to the resolution of corruption and other social ills in the country,” Haeg said.

At this stage this plan is still being carefully developed, Haeg adds that the Philippines is a very ideal country to be the first place to conduct this experiment in. To date there are almost 85 million Filipinos who have call phones, and this is where PIN plans to capitalize.

“The Philippines is known to be the texting capital of the world, this would be very ideal for the replication of a system we use in America, only scaled down for use in the Philippines,” Haeg said.

 

 

New media same old ethics

Journalism is a constant whether it is in print, television, radio or even the internet it does not change. People expect the same thing out of journalists and that is true, unbiased and accurate reports. So social networks, news websites and the like might offer speedy and insightful stories, but they need to be placed scrutinized in the same way that news material are scrutinized in more traditional venues of journalism.

“Facebook and Twitter are just like any other medium. In using these sites to distribute news information, we apply the same basic tenets of journalism. Verify the facts, air balanced views, be fair.  At times it’s a little more of a challenge to do this on Social Media because there is a lot of misinformation that can easily spread online. Before posting something on FB or Twitter we just always make sure to verify the information through traditional means– meaning by checking with multiple sources, corroboration, et cetera. The challenge here is that users are demanding us to be faster and faster in breaking news. This means we have to work faster,” GMA News Online’s Faustino said.

Faustino adds that in GMA News Online, just like any news organization, there is a set of editors that ensure that articles pass the strict standards that is expected to be imposed on an article.

“We have editors who assign our reporters and stringers to cover certain stories based on the news agenda. News editors have to consider what issues are relevant, important, and interesting to our audiences.  Reporters then cover the stories to which they are assigned. But of course, reporters can also pitch and produce their own story ideas and submit these to the editors for publication. Editors’ main role is to ensure our stories are well-written, fair, balanced, and factual,” Faustino said.

 

The internet is very free, there are no restrictions on what one can or cannot say online. But sometimes this has been to the detriment of the profession with people pushing fallacies and rumors going viral in a matter of minutes, journalism and the defined set of standards that accompany it is much more difficult to impose. But University of Florida Journalism Professor Mindy Mc Adams said that there should be no compromise between standards whether online or offline.

 

“It’s not so much a question of standards, as in standards of truth, or ethics. The standards go straight across all media, whether they are journalistic standards, standards for accuracy or fairness, or aesthetic standards. There is no “offline” and “online” when it comes to standards — only a little time lag, because online is faster,” Mc Adams said.

 

But she said that there has been palpable erosion of the values that has come to define journalism as a profession because of the advent of the internet. She added that this must be rectified quickly as it may lead to more users losing trust on their local news organizations. But Mc Adams is quick to dispel any idea that online journalism is to blame about the loss of trust that news organizations go through now.

 

“I’m not about to lay blame for declining audience trust on the online folks, though. That blame belongs to the journalism organizations that repeatedly failed to investigate and halt plagiarism and fabrication in their print newsrooms; to TV pundit shows that play at being journalistic when in fact their talking heads spew slippery facts and imprudent opinions; and to local TV news anchors who repeat the same provocative teases six times between 9 and 11 p.m., only to deliver a complete letdown at 11:17 (“And then the grandmother found her little dog, unharmed!”),” Mc Adams said in an online discussion.

Adopting online freedom doesn’t mean loosening of standards

The internet is a unique and powerful tool, is everything that we know about journalism rolled into one. It allows readers and other users to have freedom and choose what they want to read or watch and when. It also serves as an empowering catalyst that involves the public in the many stages of the news gathering process.

But it also places traditional media in a very difficult place because of the same reasons cited above. It has radically changed the playing field, giving early adopters an upper hand as they had learned the tricks of the online journalism trade.

Though the internet is many things at the same time, when used for journalism it needs to be one thing and that is trust worthy. Online journalism needs to be placed in a position where it is scrutinized in a way that newspapers and TV or Radio programs are scrutinized. Anything below than that is simply a disservice to the public and to the profession.

They say that in online journalism, unlike in print or broadcast journalism, objectivity does not mean trust worthiness, transparency makes online journalism trust worthy. Transparency in a sense that the reader or viewer has the capacity to trace the data and information presented in the report.

But transparency will never be enough, the vital tenets of journalism will never and should never lose its importance and neither should the good practice that traditional journalists have developed in the course of their practice. These are as important as the information that journalists convey. These values are also prerequisites of credibility—the single most valuable commodity in the profession today.

As Simon Waldman, Director of Digital Publishing of The Guardian says: “Embracing the new doesn’t mean you have to ditch the old. Smart organizations are taking the opportunities that the Net offers them for immediacy and interactivity and combining them with their traditional standards.”

Journalist must never do away with responsible and accountable reportage, because we can easily integrate it with current trends offered by the internet, because good journalism, wherever it may be published, is a service to the public and a fulfillment of our obligation to provide information necessary for a free society.

 

Religion and RH

The Reproductive Health Bill is direly needed by our society. Ironically, the same society is ruled by religious fanatics; fanatics who are blinded by faith and inspired by lies. These are the same people serve as the largest roadblock to the delivery of a substantive and reliable reproductive health measure to millions of Filipinos around the country.

Currently, there are 90 Million Filipinos and it is projected to double and reach the 180 Million mark by 2040. That incredible increase in population would bring the already scarce resources this country has to even greater scarcity. This would mean a dramatic increase in poverty rates, which in turn translates to hunger, little to no education and a steady increase in criminality. This situation is already prevalent. Now, imagine the same picture and multiply that by two in 20 years.

In addition to these, the United Nations Population Fund has said that our country has one of the most dismal maternal death rates in South East Asia. It even said that we, as a country, have not made significant progress on the standards set in the Millennium Development Goals, a virtual to-do list drafted by the United Nations, signed and agreed upon by all 193 member states and at least 23 foreign agencies, that mandates us accomplish eight goals that would improve the way of life of all humanity. One of the most important goals is to improve reproductive health and reduce if not totally eradicate maternal deaths.

Dissenters of the Reproductive Health Bill currently discussed in the two houses of congress have, primarily, been Bishops of the Catholic Church and so-called socio-civic organizations who apparently have deep relations with the Holy Mother Church. The most disturbing fact about the meddling of the Catholic Church is that it has kept on peddling factually inconsistent data, data that betrays the basic teaching of their religion which is to never speak fallacious and fabricated words. They have used the ignorance and lack of education of many marginally poor Filipinos to mobilize the masses against a measure that could, and as some would like to argue would, improve the lives of many of our countrymen.

Even the United Nations bemoans the situation here in the Philippines. They say that what should have been a national political debate about the merits and points of the proposed Reproductive Health Bill has been muddled by the strong protests of different religious leaders whose beliefs have proven outdated and detrimental to the lives of many people. They continue to trumpet morality when morality and the overzealousness of those who claim to hold in great esteem continue to drive this nation deeper into despair. These people, whose morality is always in question, have continued to use the name of Jesus to defeat every legislative action that runs contrary to their interests. They have also used the impoverished people to further their personal agenda, remember the 4x4s?

Bishops may say that the vehicles were for the good of their communities but no one in their right frame of mind would say that nothing was irregular about the Catholic prelates’ acquisition of these SUVs. If I dare say, it was downright immoral.

Now, back to the RH Bill, I find it amusing that we have all the time in the world to discuss the lives of every other showbiz personality but we hardly talk about the practicality and probable effectiveness of a bill that would allow our citizens the power to choose the path that they would take in life. I believe that choice is the very essence of every democracy, not pompous filibustering by few and definitely not religion. Without the power to choose for ourselves we will fail as a democracy. Thus, depriving our people the ability to choose artificial or natural forms of contraception and of the right to a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth is tantamount to robbing us of our rights to vote and be heard.

This country has suffered through over 300 years of blind observance of a flawed belief in a religion that is as corrupt any government this country has ever had. It is about time that Filipinos grow a healthy amount of rebelliousness. We will not go to hell if we choose to put on condoms or to pop a pill so that we could ensure that our children would have a better future. We will not go to hell if we strive for a future where no Filipina dies because of childbirth. And we would most likely not go to hell if we cover our ears every time a priest climbs the pulpit and share his personal belief about what happens in our bedrooms.

There is a reason why the framers of our constitution opted to include the clause separating the church and the state; simply because religious leaders have the frightening tendency of going ahead of themselves. They also have the power to persuade the uneducated and the poor whose only source of strength lies in their belief of a greater power. This has been the hand they usually hide behind their sleeves, putting it into play whenever it is most advantageous to them. And when the RH Bill debate intensified, the cards all fell into place. The Catholic Church had their army; an army of blind followers who never question the infallible and divine wisdom bestowed upon the prelates.

But enough is enough, the Catholic Doctrine does not serve as a real answer to the ills of our country, and it most certainly does not answer our need for government funding of a comprehensive reproductive health program. The Bible teaches us virtues, morality and faith but it does not serve an answer to the booming population. And the famous line in Genesis where the Good Lord has ordered Adam and Eve ‘to go forth and multiply’ is reasonable back then, but surely the Lord understands that we cannot afford to feed another 90 Million people in 20 years, the logic especially when applied to present times simply does not seem sound.

Doble-Kara

Mistulang isang halimaw na nakahandang sumunggab sa kung sino mang magkamaling mapalapit dito ang banta ng radioactive contamination na nagmumula sa nasirang Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant sa Japan, dahil dito milyon-milyong mga mamayan mula sa iba’t ibang mga bansa dito sa Asya at maging sa iba pang mga kalapit-bansa ang tunay ngang nangangamba sa maaring idulot nito sa kanilang mga kalusugan.

Sabay sa pag-umang ng ulo ng problema na ito naibubulatlat din ang mga pansariling kahinaan ng ating bansa pagdating sa kahandaan sa mga ganitong klaseng kalamidad.

Sa kasalukuyan walang tumatakbong pasilidad na may kakayahang gumawa na elektrisidad mula sa nuclear na paraan dito sa ating bayan, matatandaan na ang nag-iisang nuclear power plant dito sa bansa na nakatayo sa Bataan ay ipinasara ng dating Pangulong Corazon Aquino dahil umano sa 400 mga depekto nito. Kahit ganito ang sitwasyon,  hindi maitatanggi na napakarami pa rin ang takot na takot sa mga diumano’y panganib na maaring dala ng nuclear radiation.

Isang patunay dito ang kumalat na mga text message na magkakroon ng radioactive fallout at acid rain dito sa bansa bunsod ng nuclear meltdown sa Japan, sinabi pa nga na naggaling diumano ang impormasyon sa isang sikat na international news organization.

Malayo man ang posibilidad na maapektuhan tayo ng nakalalasong radiation mula sa bansang Hapon nabuksan naman nito ang pangangailangan ng paglalatag ng mga naayong paraan upang tamang maaksyunan ang ganitong mga uri ng sakuna.

Kamakailan lamang nagsimula na ang pamahalaan na mag-inspeksyon ng mga tao at kargamentong nagmumula sa Japan, isa diumano itong sagot sa lumalaking pangamba na maaring may mga nakontamina ng radiation na tao at kargamento na makapasok sa bansa. Lubos naman itong ikinabahala ng mga kinatawan nga bansang Hapon dito sa bansa.

“We expect the government to be open-minded about news from Japan. There are disturbing news like airport authorities checking aircraft and Filipino seafarers who don’t want to go to Japan ports. This kind of action based on wrong information cause damages to Japan,” sabi ni Minister Shinsuke Shimizu, isang mataas na opisyal ng embahada ng Japan dito sa bansa.

Idinagdag pa ni Shimizu na isa itong malaking overreaction sa bahagi ng pamahalaan ng Pilipinas, ayon sa kanya ilang mga pandaigdigang organisasyon na rin ang nag sertipika na ligtas ang mga eroplano at mga daungan ng bansang Hpon, kaya’t walang dahilan upang mangamba ang Pilipinas.

Ayon nga kay Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo, “let us be calm. There is no reason to be alarmed, the Philippines is under no threat.”

Ngunit kahit na ito ang sinasabi ng mga kinatawan ng gobyerno, iba naman ang kanilang ikinikilos. Tunay ngang may pinag-uugatan ang sentimyento ni G. Shimizu, masyado nang nagiging paranoid ang mga Pilipino, at masasabing tunay na wala sa llugar ang ikinikilos nating ito. Napakaraming ulat panahon ang nagsasabi na imposibleng maihatid ang mga radioactive particles mula Japan patungo dito sa Pilipinas sapagkat wala naming sama ng panahon ang namumuo ayon pa nga sa mga eksperto unti-unting kumakalat ang radiation pag inihip na ito ng hangin kaya’t nawawalan na rin ito ng potency o bagsik.

Nakakalungkot ding makita na salu-salungat ang ipinapakita at sinasabi ng ating pamahalaan, sa ilang mga statement na inilabas ng gobyerno sinasabi nila na walang dapat ikabahala subalit todo higpit naman sila sa mga tao at produktong galing Japan.

Ito ay panahon upang maipakita ng Administrasyong Aquino na meron silang kapasidad na humawak ng ganitong uri ng sitwasyon, kung saan malawakan ang pagkalito at pagkatakot. Hindi ito panahon upang magsalita, ito ay panahon upang umaksyon at manguna sa pagkakalma sa marami nating takot na kababayan.

Sa paraan lamang ng isang solido at kapinapaniwalaang disaster preparedness plan natin maipapakita sa buong mundo na kaya rin nating solusyunan ang mga problemang maaring nating kaharapin. Hindi makakatulong ang doble karang ugali ng pamahalaan sa pagharap sa problema, lalo lamang itong nakakasama.

A reflection on Japan’s current woes

Japan, the world’s third largest economy, the world’s leader in technology and the most connected country on the planet. And in one day all of the apparent strengths of this island-nation have been overshadowed by tragedies of epic proportions.

On March 11, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the east coast of Honshu, the largest island in Japan. After the massive quake, a 33-foot high Tsunami swept away the cities of Sendai, Minamisanriku, Ofunato, Rikuzentakata and other towns in the prefectures of Iwate, Fukushima and Miyagi. As of this writing there are almost ten thousand reported casualties but authorities are conservatively estimating that deaths from the tsunami and the earthquake to exceed the 20, 000 mark.

Also as a result of these twin disasters, a nuclear power plant, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, had successive meltdowns in four of its six reactors. It exposed countless people to radiation in varying amounts, though Japanese officials are quick to dismiss that radiation levels outside the immediate vicinity of the plant is relatively low. But in just a few days the situation in Fukushima had abruptly deteriorated, the International Atomic Energy Agency has raised the threat level from a three (serious incident) to a five (accident with wider consequence) using the International Nuclear Incident Scale.

Recently, Japanese authorities have recorded radioactive contamination of food products like milk and vegetables, and more disturbingly they have reported that drinking water in as far as Tokyo also has inexplicably high radioactive iodine content which the Health Ministry said to be unsafe for infants.

In nearby countries, paranoia and near hysteria are of prevalence. In the Philippines alone, news stories about radiation have triggered the government to up the ante on its drive to shield its citizens against radiation, in our airports and seaports radiation screening is a norm especially on people and shipments coming from Japan.

These government initiatives have stemmed from the need to allay and forestall the growing fears that a radioactive cloud would soon hit the Philippines. Such is also the case in countries like the United States, South Korea and other nations of close proximity to Japan.

The calamities currently crippling Japan holds resonance on the international community, ripping away our false sense of safety, snapping people out of their complacency and placing them in an overly-alert mode. As a testament to this, a relatively weak earthquake (5.8 in the Richter scale) that hit Manila a few days ago has practically made everyone jumpy.

The majority of Filipinos knows all too well that an earthquake of the same magnitude that hit Japan would completely flatten Philippine towns and cities.

And this logic is unquestionable, in fact it is infallible. The Philippines is a country which allocates meager amounts to national disaster preparedness. And this has been made apparent by the destruction brought by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng in 2009. Ondoy alone has destroyed hundreds of millions of pesos worth of both public and private properties. The damage brought by these typhoons is all preventable, yet it is apparent that both the executive and legislative departments are not ready to owe up to the opportunity and muster enough political will to prepare the nation against natural disasters.

The opposite is the situation in Japan. The East Asian country is well-prepared for disasters like these; a report from the Cable News Network explained that the Japanese have trained themselves to act in a disciplined manner during earthquakes since the 1920’s. The period after the great Kanto earthquake in 1923 which killed 100,000- 140,000 people has been a learning experience for Japan as a nation. They have rose from the ruins and stood as a stronger nation, prepared for whatever nature would throw their way. But even with almost a century of preparation for the “big one”, the killer quake of 2011 has left Japan reeling and coping with the destruction.

This only shows that when faced with the wrath of nature we are nothing. It is true that we can prepare for the inevitable to only a certain extent, we can never truly fathom the weight and decisiveness of a natural disaster, but as was shown by the triple disasters in Japan, preparation and readiness can cut fatalities and destruction by a significant percentage. Because of the safety measures and strict enforcement of Japan’s building code many people have found themselves safe after the quake hit. If you place the same situation, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, in any other third-world country, it is with great conviction that I can say that fatalities would run in the hundreds of thousands like what happened in Haiti.

So the Japanese experience on disasters is full of lessons which everyone in the international community can learn from. Especially country’s like the Philippines can adopt the same legislative measures that Japan has implemented. We can man up to the situation and start to change policies pertaining to disaster preparedness. We have all the opportunities on our hands now. All we need is political will. The only thing against us is time. We must move quickly because in the shape we are in now the ‘big one’ could be the “last one” for many Filipinos.

Villar biggest ad spender–study

A network of socio-civic organizations has identified Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. as the biggest spender in the 2010 presidential race. According to Roberto Cadiz, a lawyer and the executive director of Libertas, Villar spent P1.024 billion in three months, from November 1, 2009 to January 31, 2010.

Cadiz also is a convenor of Pera at Pulitika (PAP), a consortium that aims to monitor spending of candidates for president.

PAP is composed of Lawyers League for Liberty (Libertas), Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Consortium for Electoral Reform and Associotion of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines.

According to Cadiz, they conducted the study by examining advertising rates of media outfits and advertising placements of the contenders in the May 10 polls.

In the study, he said, they discovered that Villar, the standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party, also recorded the longest airtime over three weeks with 1,450 minutes of advertisements.

The ruling party’s presidential bet, former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro was found to be the second-biggest spender with P407 million in advertisements.

Teodoro was followed by Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd (P268 million), Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon (P244 million), Bro. Eddie Villanueva (P90 million) and former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada (P84 million).

Cadiz noted that the presidential candidates and the political parties which they belong to can only spend a total of P15 per registered voter or about P750 million based on the 50 million or so registered voters.

“We seek to inform the public about the campaign practices of these leaders, because the way they spend their money can be reflective of how they conduct governance,” he told the weekly press forum Balitaan sa Tinapayan on Sunday.

Cadiz said that “unregulated spending is a way of skewing the electoral process, there is no even playing field if it is left unregulated.”

He warned that because of the huge sums of money the candidates are spending for the elections, there might be a possibility for them to recoup the money they invested in winning the position they desired.

“Then they might be beholden to some vested interests,” Cadiz said.
Immanuel Pastolero And Jan Erick Tutaan

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/42-rokstories/12468-villar-biggest-ad-spenderstudy

Palawan lawmaker asks Comelec to reconsider bid

By IMMANUEL PASTOLERO, SPECIAL TO THE MANILA TIMES

PALAWAN Representative Abraham “Baham” Mitra will file a motion for reconsideration today at the Comission on Elections (Comelec) En banc regarding his disqualification from the province’s gubernatorial race. “I am not yet disqualified. I will file a motion for reconsideration at the Commission En banc tomorrow [today],” Mitra said at the weekly press forum Balitaan sa Tinapayan, Sunday.

The Comelec First Division presided by Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, disqualified Mitra for allegedly failing to prove his residency in the town of Aborlan, Palawan. Mitra, who was formerly residing in their family’s ancestral house in Puerto Princesa City, relocated to the neighboring town of Aborlan in May 2009.

Puerto Princesa City is a chartered city, which means its residents are ineligible to vote for the province’s governor, vice-governor and provincial board members.

Mitra, a member of the Liberal Party, said that many of his constituents are saddened and disappointed at the decision of the Comelec.

“Many in Palawan are disheartened and disappointed at my disqualification by the Comelec First Division,” Mitra said.

Mitra added that he believed that his decision to align himself with Presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd might be the reason behind his disqualification.

“I have been part of the administration bloc in congress since 2001, I have been very supportive of the President, but my decision to join the Liberal Party was dictated by my affiliations with Noynoy,” Mitra said.

The son of former House Speaker Ramon Mitra, Sr. has served as Congressman of the 2nd District of Palawan for three consecutive terms, and will run as the province’s governor on the upcoming May Elections.

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/11539-palawan-lawmaker-asks-comelec-to-reconsider-bid

DOH, Senate bets express concern over rise of AIDS in RP

BY IMMANUEL PASTOLERO Special to the Manila Times

The Department of Health (DOH) together with some senatorial bets of different parties expressed their concern over the sudden increase of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the country.

According to Dr. Enrique Tayag of the DOH National Epidemiology Center, 126 cases of AIDS were reported  in December 2009 alone, the highest number in the span of one month in 25 years.  He added that 835 new cases were documented last year.

“The highest occurrence of AIDS is prevalent among men ranging from age 25 to 29,” Tayag said at the Kapihan sa Manila, a weekly press forum held at the Manila Hotel, Monday.

Tayag added that the most prevalent occurrence of the disease is in young adult males who engage in unprotected sex with other men.

“We are focusing our attention on large urban areas such as Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao,” Tayag said.

He also warned the public about the other ways the disease are transmitted, such as sharing of hypodermic needles. An afflicted mother can also transmit the disease to her unborn child.

Dr. Ferchito Avelino, director of the Philippine National AIDS Council, said that all of the vital ingredients that would lead to an AIDS epidemic are present in the country.

“If left unchecked, an epidemic here in the country would only be a matter of time,” Avelino said.

He added that the health department and the AIDS Council is very alarmed about the infection rate of gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD)  in the country which is one of the important factors that would lead to an epidemic of AIDS.

Avelino said another factor would be the lack of information about how STD’s are transmitted.

According to Avelino many people are also misinformed about AIDS, he said that some common misconceptions are that AIDS can be transmitted through kissing and through mosquito bites. He added that these views are not only wrong but can lead to unnecessary discrimination of people who are infected.

The third factor would be the early exposure of some children to unprotected sexual intercourse at a very early age.

“The legislature has made good bills that aims to educate the public about AIDS, but the problem almost always lie on inefficient implementation,” former congressman and Liberal Party senatorial bet Neric Acosta said.

Acosta said that though there are existing laws that focuses on AIDS, both houses of Congress should have stronger oversight over governmental policy about STD’s.

Former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad added that “though we initiate campaigns to educate the public about the proper use of condom, the fact remains that the most effective way of preventing AIDS is through abstinence or responsible sexual practices.”

Tayag said that the government could only do so much to control the occurrence of AIDS in the country because it would always boil down to a person’s sexual practice.

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/nation/10719-doh-senate-bets-express-concern-over-rise-of-aids-in-rp

High Court ruling needed despite martial law lifting

Even if martial law declared in southern Philippines was lifted by President Gloria Arroyo, the Supreme Court still would have to render a decision on the legality or illegality of the declaration.

The High Tribunal has the last say on whether President Arroyo did right by imposing martial rule on Maguindanao province in Mindanao, former Rep. Gilbert Remulla of Cavite told the weekly press forum Balitaan sa Tinapayan on Sunday.

“The Supreme Court is duty-bound to resolve the seven petitions filed before it [asking that the declaration of martial law be nullified],” said Remulla, now spokesman for the Nacionalista Party.

Martial law in Maguindanao, according to Felix Cabrera Cantal, the presidential candidate of the Philippine Green Republican Party in the 2010 elections, was wrong from the beginning.

Its lifting, Cantal said, could lead to release from jail of members of the powerful Ampatuan clan who are suspected as the brains behind the November 23 massacre of 57 civilians, including 30 journalists.

Supposedly, the family led a rebellion in the province shortly after it was implicated in the massacre, prompting the government to impose military rule there in accordance with provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Also despite the lifting, House Speaker Prospero Nograles said on Sunday that he and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile still will convene at 4 p.m. today to adjourn a joint session of Congress that had been called to vote on keeping or rejecting martial law in Maguindanao.

Nograles added that they still would allow those wishing to speak for or against the declaration before ending the joint session.

He said that the President, in lifting martial law, proved wrong claims, particularly that made by Sen. Miriam
Defensor-Santiago, about an alleged attempt to broaden the coverage of martial law beyond Maguindanao.

Still, senatorial candidates in the 2010 elections of the Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party also on
Sunday said that the supposedly unexpected lifting of martial law in Maguindanao was what they termed as an “experiment” designed to gauge the response of other lawmakers and the public.

Rep. Teofista Guingona Jr., a Liberal, cited “strong rumors that martial law would be lifted before the joint session convened.”

The President, through Proclamation 1959, declared martial law in Maguindanao on December 4 and lifted it on Decmber 12.

What will now happen to the Ampatuans?

Presidential candidate raised the question, warning that the lifting of martial law in Maguindanao could mean, too, the release of the Ampatuans from jail.

Cantal, a former member of the United Nations International Court of Justice, said that removing military rule also could lead to the release of militiamen and other suspects linked to the carnage.

He noted that under martial law, defendants in a murder case can never be given bail. In contrast, without martial law, they can file for bail.

Cantal said that the government, instead of imposing military rule, should have cordoned off Maguindanao to prevent people from entering and leaving the place.

Under martial law, according to him, those charged with rebellion or murder should be charged before a military court, not before civilian courts.

IMMANUEL PASTOLERO, FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO AND JOMAR CANLAS

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/nation/7776-high-court-ruling-needed-despite-martial-law-lifting

Comelec names Pagdanganan 2007 poll winner

By Immanuel Pastolero, Special to The Manila Times

The Second Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed former Tourism Secretary Roberto “Obet” Pagdanganan as the duly elected governor of Bulacan and ordered Joselito “Jon-Jon” Mendoza to vacate his office in the provincial capitol.
“This is a historical vindication not just for my family, but for the people of Bulacan,” Pagdanganan said as a reaction to the resolution.

Comelec has ordered the proclamation of Pagdanganan after a highly disputed recount which revealed that he had garnered a total of 342, 295 votes against Mendoza’s 337, 974 votes for a margin of 4, 321 votes.

The recount disproves the 2007 election results, which showed that Mendoza defeated other candidates with 364, 566 votes.

The resolution signed by Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph also ordered Mendoza to cease and desist from discharging the functions of governor in the province. The Interior department headed by Secretary Ronaldo Puno is ordered by the Comelec to implement the resolution.
Mendoza, brother of former Gov. Josie de la Cruz of Bulacan, has been in the provincial capitol since 2007.

The decision would leave Pagadanganan with only five months in office. But Pagdanganan said that he could do many things in the remaining five months of his term as governor.

The recount was ordered after Pagdanganan filed an election protest in June 2007. He claimed that he was cheated by Mendoza and that some of the ballots were “doctored.”

Meanwhile, Comelec has said that the decision is not yet final and executory allowing Mendoza to appeal the decision.

From: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/7000-comelec-names-pagdanganan-2007-poll-winner

Pacquiao still up for grabs

Boxer’s party has yet to decide on alliances

ALABEL, Sarangani: Philippine political heavyweights are courting boxing idol Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao to win his endorsement for the May 2010 presidential elections in an effort to cash in on his soaring popularity. Pacquiao said here Sunday he would soon announce which candidate he is backing, and he denied reports he was already aligned with Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr., one of the front-runners in the presidential race, of the Nacionalista Party.

“I will announce later what is my [national] party and who is the presidential candidate I am aligning with,” he told reporters in this southern Philippine town at a gathering of his “People’s Champ Movement,” a new local party Pacquiao is starting.

He admitted meeting with Villar in Manila on Friday but denied that he had already joined forces with the Nacionalistas.

“I did not give any commitment,” he said.

Villar met with Pacquiao in Manila at a dinner to celebrate the Filipino boxer’s recent victory over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas. Then on Saturday, Villar confirmed that he spoke with Pacquiao during the dinner.

Villar said, however, that he was leaving it to Pacquiao to make the formal announcement “out of respect for him.” He added that he and Pacquiao had agreed in principle to support each other.

Manila dailies, meanwhile, gave front-page coverage to reports that Villar was offering to make Pacquiao the official Nacionalista candidate for Congress in the southern province of Sarangani.

This is despite a longtime alliance between Pacquiao and President Gloria Arroyo who has endorsed another candidate, former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, as her presidential bet.

It’s up to Pacquaio

In Manila, Arroyo spokesman Cerge Remonde downplayed the speculation, saying “that is between Manny Villar and Manny Pacquiao. We will not interfere in that, and we will not complain if this [alliance] happens.”

“But I think it is still unclear, because Manny Pacquiao denied that he is joining NP [Nacionalista Party],” Remonde added.

In one radio interview on Saturday, Pacquiao said he was “100-percent sure” of running for congressman of Sarangani under his own People’s Champ Movement.

But he added that his party was yet unsure whether it would coalesce with other political parties or back specific candidates at the national level.

Villar, a billionaire property developer, has been placed second in surveys of contenders in the presidential elections.

Pacquiao, whose boxing victories have made him a national hero, has already said he plans to run for the Congress seat in Sarangani.

His popularity soared even further after he demolished Cotto last week to become the only man in history to win seven titles in as many weight classes.

One of Pacquiao’s political allies, Juan Domingo, said there was an offer by President Arroyo’s ruling Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) party for Pacquiao to join.

But Lakas has already endorsed a member of an established political clan as its candidate for the Sarangani
seat, said Domingo.

But also on Sunday, Lakas-Kampi spokesman Reggie Velasco said that they would still welcome Pacquaio to the administration party, but that he “has to undergo the rigorous selection process.”

Despite his fame, Pacquiao lost in his congressional bid in 2007 to incumbent Darlene Antonino-Custodio, who hails from an established local political clan.

The victory over Cotto, however, won him even more fame, with President Arroyo conferring on him on Friday the ceremonial “Sikatuna Award”—an honor normally reserved for foreign heads of state.

Party defections

Officials of Lakas-Kampi and the Liberal Party said, meanwhile, they believe that the political turncoatism shown by some members of the administration party was symptomatic of a weak political system.

“[A] reassessment of political parties is needed,” said Edu Manzano, the Lakas-Kampi vice presidential bet, during the weekly press forum Balitaan sa Tinapayan, on Sunday.

Manzano added that the Philippines should return to a two-party system because the vetting process would be more rigorous and would result in the selection of the best candidates. Plus, ideological lines would be more pronounced, he explained.

But Liberal Party spokesman Rep. Erin Tañada of Quezon province said that reverting back to the two-party system would not answer the problem of turncoatism.

He cited as an example the high profile changing of alliances by the late Ferdinand Marcos, who left the Liberals to run under the Nacionalistas in the 1965 elections. In that race, Marcos ran against the then incumbent and Liberal standard-bearer Diosdado Macapagal, President Gloria Arroyo’s father.

Tañada said that the only answer to the problem of turncoatism would be an injection of ideologies into the political system. He added that the country needs politicians who have a clear political agenda that people could support, and that with an ideological party, candidates can present solutions that would be hardwired to their beliefs, thus giving the people a choice.

Some of the most prominent names who bolted the administration to join the Liberals include Mayor Sonny Belmonte of Quezon City, Mayor Recom Echiverri of Caloocan City, Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto of Batangas, and her husband, former National Economic and Development Authority secretary, Ralph Recto.

Also, about 400 local officials have taken their oath as members of Villar’s Nacionalista Party.
AFP AND ANGELO S. SAMONTE WITH REPORTs FROM RUBEN D. MANAHAN 4TH AND IMMANUEL PASTOLERO

From: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/42-rokstories/6537-pacquiao-still-up-for-grabs