Monday, May 05, 2008 Mongaya: Tabloids against broadsheets? By Anol Mongaya Panahom
MANILA - Large tarpaulin banners, teenage girls giving out leaflets and sample ballots, a band dishing out a lively conga beat, various giveaways like cigarette samples, ball pens, caps, and even a half kilo of rice, and booths giving out free food met us when we arrived at the National Press Club (NPC) building at Intramuros, Manila yesterday morning.
The NPC election fever was at its peak. Roman Floresca of The Philippine Star was contesting the candidacy of Benny Antiporda of Remate.
In his report to the assembly of journalists from various news outlets in Metro Manila and a few from the provinces, outgoing president Roy Mabasa tackled head-on the controversial issue involving the sale of the Manansala mural even as the old guards critical to sale led by Neal Cruz of the Philippine Daily Inquirer intently listened.
Defending the sale, Mabasa told the assembly that past administrations planned to sell the mural with offers at P4.5 million to P6 million. But his administration sold the painting at P10 million.
With this, the club leadership put an end the past practice of asking for donations, pay its past due bills to Meralco, and replace the dilapidated elevator with a new one that cost P1.5 million.
Moreover, the club leadership stood its ground in its running battle with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) by filing charges “for claiming our land and building.”
While I trust that the courts will eventually sort out the controversy and uphold truth and justice, I noted Mabasa’s success in getting the Neal Cruz and several lifetime members who included PAL’s Rolly Estabillo to attend and actively participate in the deliberations. To recall, Cruz has devoted several columns of harsh tirades against the NPC leadership as a result of the Manansala sale.
Yet, Mabasa happily noted the attendance of Cruz and the civil exchanges during the plenary session and the festive atmosphere that was a far cry from the tense exchanges using megaphones and court battles in May 2006.
Indeed the press club has moved on and managed to bring back members to its active fold. I am sure this is a giant step towards bringing back the club’s past glorious days.
Moreover, the outgoing Mabasa administration happily reported the turnover of a P7 million fund to the next administration from the nearly bankrupt status before his watch.
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During the plenary session, somebody from the floor urged the voting members present not to look at the present elections as a contest between tabloids and broadsheets. Whether the newspaper is big or small, the NPC members are with the working press.
Another speaker butted in and argued that there should not even be a distinction between print and radio. Still, another speaker stood up and spoke in behalf of journalists from the provinces in a club largely composed of members from the Manila press. The key phase is “working press,” they said.
The exchange struck a sensitive chord because I’m with Sun.Star Superbalita, a Cebuano-language tabloid based in Cebu City. Together with Job Tabada of the Cebu Daily News, we were there upon the personal invitation of outgoing NPC president Roy Mabasa. With the blessings of Mabasa and company, Tabada and I are now trying to revive the Cebu chapter that Jun Satorre and Maning Uyson left.
Moreover, the next NPC administration (the counting was still ongoing as of this writing) needs to revise its by-laws that is biased against the formation and recognition of provincial chapters. If the press club has to be truly national, it should shed its largely Manila-centered bias.
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Earlier in the week, I was with several Cebu journalists who visited the Asia-Pacific Electric Company plant in Mabalacat, Pampanga that uses the modern fluidized circulating bed technology that greatly minimizes the damage of coal-fired plants on the environment.
The same technology will be used in the three new plants planned by the Global Business Power Corp. in Toledo and the 200 megawatt plant of the Kepco-SPC Power Corp. in the City of Naga, Cebu.
The construction of these plants should ensure Cebu’s fast economic growth in the decades to come but with less damage to the environment. After all, what we want is sustainable growth.
(Check out my blog “In Between Columns” at anol.blogs. friendster.com/anols_blog/)
