Plain banditry and terrorism

My heart bleeds for the helpless civilians who were brutally murdered by warriors of the Moro Islamics Liberation Front in the violence that flared up in several provinces of Mindanao last week. These victims were defenseless, and only cold-blooded murderers can carry out such senseless manslaughter. The MILF warriors deserve the worst punishment possible --- death! They did not even respect the neutrality of civilians.

Now tens of thousands of Filipino Christians and Muslims have fled their homes, fearful about suffering the same fate. This has disrupted their lives, and it will take a long time before a sense of normalcy could return. Mindanao is once again burning, and religious undertones are stoking the flames.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should be held answerable for what has happened. She tried to look good by striking a secret peace deal with the Bangsa Moro. But what happened? The conflagration has gone out of control, and the President does not seem to know what to do.

What values do we get from media?

I dread to think about the future of this country. It's not because Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is doing a poor job as president of the country. Or that corruption has reached its worst levels since Marcos. It's because media is wasting a golden opportunity to shape our values as a society and point us in the right direction. When I speak of media, I make special reference to radio, which undoubtedly has the widest reach and influence among the traditional media.
Just listen to any broadcast in Iloilo, and you will understand where I'm coming from. We have broadcasters who don't have the rudimentary background to discuss vital public issues, and yet are able to monopolize the microphone for hours, pounding the airlanes with their convoluted logic and twisted arguments. Too often, their facts are wrong. And worse, they sensationalize "sex scandals" and leave intelligent discussion of issues to the background. For them, economic and political issues are too tough to handle, and they'd rather stick to topics with "masa" appeal.
Radio has a huge potential to shape society by affirming certain positive values in Filipinos as a people. Because of its reach, it can inspire the people to act in the right way to respond to the problems of our nation, and somehow influence us to unite. But radio thrives on controversy, in fomenting discord, in sowing intrigue, in talking about trivial matters than serious issues.
In Great Britain, the BBC has played a major role in the country's affairs for as long as it has been operating, especially during World War II, when the nation faced its greatest crisis. In the United States, radio networks spend a lot of time promoting exchanges of ideas from experts, and not nincompoop broadcasters trying to ram their distorted ideas down the throats of hapless listeners.
I don't know if we can change this.

Iloilo's media wars

It is a big affront to the sensibilities of Ilonggos to hear radio commentators attacking each other over the airlanes. This is how I feel about the word war between Bombo radio and RMN during the last few weeks. They forget that as broadcasters, they owe their listeners a great sense of decency and respect. Okay, if the surveys show that RMN is a poor third, then so be it. The ranking will not change if Rhod Tecson attacks Florete. Bombo, for its part, should not stoop down to the muck raking of RMN. If it is number one, it should behave like one. What is the KBP doing about this? Is there no regulatory agency to check on the abuses of broadcasters?

Hello world!

I have been reading blogs for a while, and it's only now that I mustered the courage to start my own blog. I know that I am just a tiny voice in this universe. But I am determined to make it heard, even if only I will hear it, hehehe.