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Thursday, September 22, 2005
Mongaya: Skipped in history books?
By Anol Mongaya
Omitting the declaration of martial law from history books taught to elementary students is akin to erasing more than a decade of recent Philippine history from the memories of future generations of Filipinos.
I find this very dangerous. This makes our young vulnerable to arguments of pro-dictatorship forces that strongman rule is fit for our people.
I already find today’s political situation very confusing. We find groups and personalities who fought the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos decades ago now marching side by side with the late dictator’s daughter and advocates of the setting up of a military junta.
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Dr. Raquel Fortun said a mouthful about the quality of police investigations during a Press Freedom Week forum yesterday unaware of the presence of Scene of the Crime Operation (Soco) police investigators in the audience. I agree that the gathering of evidence in many criminal cases has been sloppily done and this has led to their dismissal in court.
I believe it is a duty of media to push the police to do their work better if we have to curb crime. We can start with cases involving the killings of journalists.
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This year’s Press Freedom Week celebration is significant because of the activation of the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) that serves as a mechanism where grievances from the public are entertained.
This is a council composed of people who understand how media works and know what is right or wrong. This will greatly improve media credibility and accountability.
Nevertheless, I don’t think the formation of the council will convince people with criminal minds of the wisdom of filing a complaint against concerned media people. Only good police work will prevent criminals from hitting back at media people who expose to the public and the police their unlawful activities.
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Members of Tau Gamma Phi displayed immaturity when they decided to snub the meeting called by Gov. Gwen Garcia recently. They apparently underestimated public disgust over the unabated deaths of young members not only of Tau Gamma but also of its bitter rival, the Alpha Kappa Rho.
I think people would rather support Acting Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Vicente Loot’s position that both should be declared criminal groups. The number of deaths resulting from their clashes is enough reason for this.
While some quarters would like us to believe that the hotheads in both fraternities are only a few, the failure of their leaders to discipline or even kick them out of the organization tell us otherwise. Frat leaders should prove that they are leading a group of mature people.
(superbalita@sunstar.com.ph or anol.blogs.friendster.com/anols_blog)
(September 22, 2005 issue)
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