Watch out! It’s April Fool’s Day!

Today is the first day of April and watch out for people who take advantage of April Fool’s Day! Indeed, with so many scammers, hustlers and con artists operating in this country, it is always wiser to take extra measures so that you don’t fall into an April Fool’s joke because today, so many people crack one and get away with saying, "April Fool!"

Talking about getting fooled, some years back, a group brought to Cebu the famous 50s’ singing group Platters and yes, we wrote about this as a promo and ended up being asked whether they were really the Platters or not because if you checked their ages, they would have been at least 90 years old when they went to sing in Cebu a few years back. Indeed, we found out that they were the "New Platters." Unfortunately, they did not mention the "new" when they promoted the Platters here.

Well, recently, friends have asked me if I was going to watch the fabulous Cascades when they come to Cebu sometime this month. This has been advertised regularly in RJ FM 1003. Who can forget those great melodies like the Last Leaf, It’s My First Day Alone or the Rhythm of the Rain. However, people here want to know whether this singing group is the real Cascades or a new version.

Frankly speaking, I really don’t know. What I do know is the Cascades came up with a big hit record album, which everybody loved and strangely, they didn’t have anymore follow-up records or hit singles. Later, we heard that the Cascades died in a plane crash. But then, stories like those weren’t verified. After all, news of such incidents back in the 60s arrived very late. So to the question as to whether the singing group named the Cascades coming to Manila and Cebu this month is the original, perhaps our good friend RJ Jacinto should clarify this to the millions of listeners of RJ 1003.

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We’ve been writing columns for a good 18 years now, and I hate to admit that this profession is, indeed, a very dangerous one. When I started writing columns for The Freeman way back in 1987, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) were going on a rampage shooting traffic policemen on Mango Avenue in broad daylight because the weak Cory regime that replaced the strong armed rule of the Marcos dictatorship didn’t immediately react to the sudden growth of the communists.

Communists are once again on the rise and they killed our good friend, news reporter Leo Enriquez, in Hermag Village in Mandaue City. We were together in the People’s Alliance Against Communism (PAAC), a defunct group led by our good friend Cerge Remonde. We were actually the Cebu version of Davao City’s vaunted and feared Alsa Masa.

Back then, whenever we would go out, we literally had to watch our backs; it was really no joke. One time, during a meeting with the Rotary Club of Cebu (Mother) Club, the guest speaker was a Fr. Rustico Tan who, during the Cory regime, resurfaced and made himself available to groups who would invite him to speak. I asked him a straight question that in the event there was a communist takeover of the Philippines, what would happen to professionals, journalists, doctors or teachers? He bluntly answered that we would all go to indoctrination camps, and if we refused, we would be executed. Now, this answer came from one who was a priest!

After that meeting, I gave Fr. Tan my calling card and yes, a week later, I was getting death threats and I had a general idea where those threats came from. Though I haven’t received any death threats lately, it doesn’t mean to say that we’re out of danger. In fact, whenever my good friend radioman Choy Torralba and I go out together, we’d kid ourselves that if anyone took shots at us, we’d really like to know which one of us is the real target.

While we may take things in stride, being a journalist is serious business and a dangerous profession. The latest to be murdered is Mrs. Marlene Garcia Esperat, a 45-year-old columnist of the Midland Review in Tacurong City, who was a well-known anti-corruption crusader. She was shot in front of her horrified son. She is the third journalist to be murdered this year. Two other journalists, Max Quindao of Tagum City and Pabs Hernandez of the Metro Manila tabloid Bulgar, survived separate murder attempts. Last year in Cebu City, Choy Torralba also survived an ambush right in front of his radio station, while The Freeman’s Allan Dizon wasn’t so lucky.

As the International Press Institute (IPI) revealed in a World Press Freedom review, since 1986, at least 56 journalists have been killed in the Philippines, and of the 78 journalists killed worldwide in 2004, 12 were murdered in the Philippines. As what the IPI pointed out, "No one has ever been convicted of these killings,." How true and we can only blame the police authorities for not doing enough to solve these senseless murders which are not just ordinary murders, but a direct assault on press freedom!

When I learned that the Senate committee on public information and mass media through Resolution No. 181 introduced by Sen. Mar Roxas, will be investigating the findings of an international media organization that the Philippines has become "the world’s second most dangerous place for journalists," after Iraq, I thought that we can get to the bottom of why our authorities cannot solve the murders done to journalists. But then, can a Senate investigation stop the killing of journalists? While we thank the Senate for its concern, I don’t think we should give this investigation any serious thought... and expect anything.

Now, the National Union of Journalists (NUJP) has challenged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to show sincerity in her anti-corruption campaign by pursuing justice for all journalists slain due to their crusades against corruption. I fully agree with the NUJP; after all, many people victimized by corruption turn to us columnists to expose the shenanigans of corrupt government officials. Yet, no one in the government cares to check our written reports or exposes until we get shot and then, albeit too late, we finally get noticed!

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.