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Friday, September 12, 2003
Sienes: Remembering Jun Pala
By Cris G. Sienes
THE late Jun Pala was a friend. Not a very close one. But a friend nevertheless.
He was also a media colleague. More importantly, he was also a human being like the rest of us eager to find something between every rising and setting of the sun.
For the above reasons we are also saddened by his untimely death.
This is not to assail his memory. We do not do that to a colleague or to anyone who has passed away and can no longer defend himself. Rather, we will simply be stating an opinion of him as a broadcast journalist without necessarily taking anything away from him as a person, as a broadcast journalist, or as a former city councilor.
Due no doubt to the manner he dished out his criticisms on the air, Jun was hounded by controversy. Many a time he criticized people harshly without getting their sides, as balanced and responsible journalism demands.
We recall that several years ago, when we face a libel charge, Jun criticized us in his program rather harshly without even giving us a chance to also air our side.
But we never took umbrage against him for what he did. This was because we understood his ways. We were also confident that God would vindicate us both from the libel charge and from Jun's criticism. God did.
One day, after Jun criticized us, he came to our office to see our regional director for a project he had in mind. We met and shook hands as good friends would, and exchange pleasantries briefly. That was the last time we saw him in person.
In journalism, whether broadcast or print, there is such a thing as a decent respect for the people that we speak or write about. We learned this from the book, Responsibilities of Journalism.
It is our honest opinion that this was one responsibility of a journalist that Jun sometimes forgot in his criticisms of people in his radio program.
As expected, because of the manner he thrashed people in his radio program, Jun incurred the ire and hatred of several of the subjects of his criticisms. Anyone of them could have gotten back at him. Hence, his untimely death.
Still, we have laws and courts of law. These should have been availed of by those who felt maligned by Jun's criticisms. The way of the gun may be expedient, but it is taboo in our supposedly Christian and civilized society. It also usurps God's power over life, and those who use it will one day answer to Him.
Controversial as Jun may have been as a radio broadcaster, he had a lot of good in him. His accomplishments as a city councilor, as well as the many people that he had helped sometimes from his own pockets, are living testimonies to the good in him.
Jun had a premonition of his death. About three days before assassins' bullets felled him mortally, he told a friend and colleague that he would not live until December this year and entrusted the care of his family to his colleague.
It may be said of Jun that he knew death was inevitable and he faced it like a man.
It remains to be seen whether those behind Jun's murder will be identified and apprehended. Sans hard evidence and witnesses to pinpoint the people responsible, police investigators are facing a blank wall. It could be that Jun's death will just be another fresh link to the already lengthy chain of unsolved murders here.
Human justice has always been weak and full of loopholes. The reason why Lady Justice wears a blindfold.
Those responsible for Jun's death may never face human justice, but can they escape divine justice?
Jun's wife herself said the God knows who killed him and she would leave them to Him. Well said.
To end this little column piece, allow us to feature a few words from Kahlil Gibran's book, The Voice of the Master, words that we believe are fitting and proper for our departed colleague wherever he is now. The words will also serve as our point to ponder for today:
"I came to say a word and I shall say it now. But if death prevents me, it will be said by Tomorrow, for Tomorrow never leaves a secret in the book of Eternity.
"I came to live in the glory of Love and the light of Beauty, which are the reflections of God. I am here, living and I cannot be exiled from the domain of life, for through my living word I will live in death.
"I came here to be for all and with all, and what I do today in my solitude will be echoed tomorrow by the multitude." Rest in peace, friend.
(September 12, 2003 issue) |
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