Press freedom: A victim of Cebu's ugly politics

Did that US Navy Drone fished off the Province of Masbate a couple of days ago really come from Guam? Apparently, this was the statement of the US Embassy, that this Navy drone was fired during Naval exercises dubbed “Valiant Shield 2012” from Guam four months ago. Perhaps the US Navy or the US Embassy official should be a bit more circumspect. The Island of Masbate is located in the interior of the Philippine archipelago. If this drone was taken by the currents here, it should have washed ashore in either Samar or Leyte that faces Guam, and not the Island of Masbate.

We know that there are military secrets that the yanks don’t want everyone to know, but they should tell us the real score on this drone. Funny, we were waiting for debris coming from that North Korean missile launch last December, but instead, we got this nearly intact US Navy drone.

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It’s January 10, the day of reckoning for suspended Cebu Governor Gwen F. Garcia who remains holed up in her office at the Provincial Capitol. Yesterday’s editorial of SunStar Daily was entitled “Rival Prayer Rallies”… where a caricature showed a split “People’s Power” asking to help Gov. Gwen, while the other side showed placard carrying Liberal Party (LP) rallyists seeking the removal of Gov. Gwen.

It must be told that the so-called LP in Cebu is a small minority… they have a greater hold in Cebu because the LP has coalesced with the Bando-Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK). However the truth is the BO-PK has no presence in Province of Cebu. But since its titular head, Rep. Tomas Osmeña wants to grab control of Cebu Province, they are using the LP for this political game who in turn used the unsuspecting P-Noy.

While it may just be a game to some people… the unceremonious removal of Gov. Gwen Garcia has incensed the electorate in the Province of Cebu because after three three-year terms… they know that Governor Gwen will no longer be Cebu Governor by July 2013. So all they ask is… why can’t the opposition wait until the elections? Why use the vast powers of the President to remove her from office prematurely? It is hoped that today, this impasse will finally come to an end when the Court of Appeals (CA) make a decision on the suspension of the Governor… was it illegal to suspend her or not?

Meanwhile, the suspension of Gov. Gwen Garcia has resulted in a collateral damage… where press freedom was the victim. When Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale assumed the governorship, she affected the closure of Sugbo TV… and Subgo Newsletter. Call it the propaganda organ of the Province of Cebu… but it meant that the Cebu journalists working for this media outfit suddenly found themselves out of work just before Christmas Day. This high-handed tactics against press freedom was questioned by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

In yesterday’s editorial in The Freeman entitled “Everybody is diminished”… it deals with another collateral damage of press freedom when the owners of SunStar Daily decided to suspend one of its columnists, Super Bobby Nalzaro for his harsh remarks against Gov. Gwen Garcia, the first cousin of the owners of SunStar Daily.

As The Freeman editorial pointed out, “Regardless of the issues that may have prompted the suspension of Bobby Nalzaro’s column, the fact remains that the suspension strikes at the very heart of Press Freedom, which ironically Cebu is known throughout the country for.” The Freeman added, “Bobby may not always be right in his views, but he has every right to say them as everyone else. Take that away from him and everybody else who continues to enjoy his own right cannot but feel shamed and diminished.”

Indeed, the coming celebration of Press Freedom Week this coming September will certainly be an interesting one. Cebu has always been proud of having its press freedom… even in the days of Martial Law, where Cebu newspapers and radio stations were allowed to criticize Marcos so it could tell the whole world that there was still press freedom in the country.

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My good friend from Bacolod, Philip Garcia texted me that they have been complaining about their high fuel prices in Bacolod, but their complaints fell on the deaf ears of Gov. Alfredo Maranon and their Congressmen. I’ll have you know that before I gassed my bike I drove around to find a cheaper gas station, but every single one of them had P57.59 per liter, which only tells you that this is a clear collusion by the oil companies servicing Bacolod. I also got an e-mail Mr. Jojo Aquino of Dumaguete City that their gas prices are higher than Bacolod City. Again, we make a plea to the Energy Secretary to level the pump prices of fuel in Negros to that of Cebu.

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