Academe neutral on Anti-Tabloid Ordinance debate

CEBU, Philippines - The academe has remained neutral amid the debate on the proposed Anti-Tabloid Ordinance now pending before the Provincial Board of Cebu which is sponsored by Vice Governor Agnes Magpale.

The issue was discussed yesterday in a forum sponsored by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) Cebu Chapter as part of the 17th Press Freedom Week Celebration at the Marcelo B. Fernan Press Center.

The proposed legislative measure has elicited varied reactions and opposition especially from publishers as well as some lawyers on the constitutional aspect.

During the forum, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of San Jose-Recoletos, Dr. Teoddie Dumam-ag, has acknowledged that their students were confused as what they learned in ethics class are not the ones followed by some publications.

Dumam-ag, who also chairs the Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Awards (CAMMA), said that what they are doing is promote media literacy program to give students “correct thinking” and provide them with the criteria on how to act without destroying the value system.

“Lisud ni sa academe kay ideal kaayo mi diri sa academe to introduce which things that are correct nya pag-deploy namo diha naay something dili mao ang among gitudlo,” he said.

He said that CAMMA has been awarding Banat News and Superbalita for contents that have exceeded and espoused the value of CAMMA.

Duman-ag said that it’s unfair for the tabloids to be singled out although they saw the objective of Magpale but the parameters of the proposed ordinance have to be looked.

The Dean of CAS of the Cebu Institute of Technology – University, Dr. Nina Suerte, on the other hand, said that the tabloids in Cebu have been very useful being the “authentic Cebuano print media available” in teaching Cebuano journalism.

“Kung matangtang ni siya totally, I hope there will be an alternative publication that would conform to the mainstream standard of journalism (Cebuano),” Suerte said.

Suerte said she has been reading articles subjected in the proposed ordinance but there’s a lot of “respectable materials” inside.

The FREEMAN columnist Leo Lastimosa joined Suerte in recognizing the contribution of Cebuano tabloids.

Media practitioner Bobby Inoferio, also an educator, conformed with the stand of the academe saying that if one does not want to be “scandalized” by the lewd article, he or she may not buy the newspaper.

Inoferio warned that while the title of the proposed ordinance is highly objectionable, it can also be a “floodgate opening for abuses in government.”

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Cebu City chapter already has officially expressed opposition to the proposal.

But IBP – Cebu City President Earl Bonachita said that to reconcile the issue, it should be guided by the Constitution and not impose prior restraint.

The power of the local chief executive to determine if the publication is obscene, indecent and immoral caused much concern among writers and editors, which Bonachita agreed.

Insisting that what he wrote was not sexually provocative, Banat News writer Rene Borromeo agreed to turn down the article after the Cebu City Anti-Indecency Board has filed case before the prosecutor’s office.

Magpale’s chief of staff, Basiliso Sungcad, said that the vice governor is determined to pursue the passage of the proposed ordinance but he assured that all concerns shall be heard during the public hearing. (FREEMAN)