Press Freedom Week kicks off

CEBU, Philippines - The 19th Press Freedom Week celebration kicked off successfully yesterday with the traditional early morning freedom march and a Holy Mass celebrated at the Blessed Pope John XXIII Seminary gym in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.

At past 7 a.m., media practitioners walked from the historic Fuente Circle down to General Maxilom Avenue, to Gorordo Avenue, the Cebu Business Park and to the Blessed Pope John XXIII Seminary.

Fr. Ramon Echica Jr. of the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos who celebrated the Mass pointed out three roles that he believes are important in the journalist’s pursuit for the truth.

The first, he said, is the responsibility of journalists to retrieve “lost values” or in making people see what otherwise are lost in the people’s vision. “What is it that we as a nation are losing and which we need to be retrieved?” he asks.

He said the events in the past few weeks have shown that many of the country’s legislators have lost the sense of what is right and wrong, which reportedly made citizens lose their trust in the leaders, if not their trust in the whole political system.

“Many have become cynical and have lost the hope that things will ever change for the better. Many have lost their sense of justice and fairness which would allow a person to get only that which is due him/her,” he said.

Echica stressed that part of the journalists’ job is to make lenses that would enable readers to see reality more clearly, to clean lenses so that a fresh perspective may be made available to the readers or listeners.

The second point, according to Echica, is that the value of every individual could not just be measured using statistics. He cites the pork barrel controversy as an example: “Come to think of it, what is lost in the pork barrel may just be a tiny fraction in relation to the national budget. But still, that tiny fraction is too big for us to imagine,” Echica said.

“Jesus appreciated the value of each individual. The second point is not to view things simply from the empirical perspective, to analyze our jobs in terms of costs and benefits, to write only in terms of the number of readers in mind,” he added.

The third point he raised is the humility in accepting one’s limitations.

“To feel self-sufficient is a real temptation. When we are confident that people listen to us or read what we write, we take the pretensions that we know everything. There is the implicit claim of expertise in every field of knowledge, be it law, economics, natural science or even theology.  But real wisdom knows how to admit ignorance,” Echica stressed.

Shortly after the mass, media practitioners showcased their inclination to the arts via the yearly friendly dance competition. SunStar Cebu managed to defend its title with a cultural performance while Cebu Daily News and The Freeman/Banat News dancers bagged the second and third places, respectively.

Meanwhile, at Harold’s Hotel the other night, it was a back-to-back victory for The Freeman reporter Jessa Chrisna Marie Agua won for the paper its sixth Miss Press Freedom crown. Agua’s victory also gave The Freeman its second back-to-back win, the first was in 2006 and 2007 when its bets, Ardelle Merton – Gollon and Rachelle Marie Dangin, won the title. Last year’s winner was TF business reporter Grace Lacamiento. 

Agua’s court includes Joy Quito of CDN (first runner-up), Blinky de Leon of the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcasters ng Pilipinas (second runner-up), and Maria Armie Sheila Garde of SunStar (third runner-up).

SunStar Cebu’s Luis Quibranza III, on the other hand, was adjudged Mr. Press Freedom. His runners-up are KBP’s Jonathan Cimafranca, TF’s Lemuel Maglinte and CDN’s Peter Romanillos. — (FREEMAN)