Is there hope at all that impunity will be defeated and that press freedom will still prevail in the Philippines?

Who knows. What I do know is that a step towards conquering impunity and the enemies of press freedom is what Spanish Journalist Ricardo Trotti said — that memory is important…in his keynote address at the 2nd day of the Impunity and Press Freedom International Conference held at the Manila Peninsula.

For me, this is the most important yet simplest message I heard in the 3-day seminar, that closed today.

What did he mean by this?

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Do we need another hero?

No I am not attempting to continue exploring the discourse left hanging by a certain rocker grandma’s late 80’s rhetorically entitled song (the theme for the equally  post-apocalyptic epic of a certain hero in a futuristic wasteland) … because frankly speaking, who or what is a hero anyway? There is just no one that comes to mind anymore in this vast wasteland of ours.

Or is it just that heroes are all too human, that once we know their flaws as well, we then drop them and continue our long and perhaps futile search. Nowhere is the reflection on heroes most relevant in light of the Jun Lozada exposes lately. And now he is seeking redemption anew for his alleged indiscretions specifically to his wife. It seems that our hero does have feet of clay…

I embarked on reflecting and problematizing the hero concept today after seeing a quiet film that opened just yesterday — which reminded me that a hero really depends on how you make of them.

That vanishing movie genre, the western again showcased how heroes are just like any other mortal men who have feet of clay. While 3:10 to Yuma is no Unforgiven, it is still a cut above the cheesy Hollywood fare this town cannot seem to get enough off.

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Today is the start of the 3 day international conference on “Impunity and Press Freedom” at the Manila Peninsula.

Organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility or CMFR and the South East Asian Press Alliance or SEAPA and with the support of the FFFJ and the Committee to Protect Journalists or CPJ, the conference brings the expertise, experience and outlook of two earlier conferences on the issue of impunity and press freedom: The Impunity and Press Freedom Conference in Sto. Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2006 and the Extrajudicial Killings’ Conference in Manila last year.

What is exciting about this conference is that it brings together all the stakeholders in the country on press freedom and will talk primarily about how all of them can help prevent or even put an end to the issue of impunity - or the right not to be punished for the crimes committed against journalists.

Read the CMFR’s press release about the conference. Read the rest of this entry »

In Memoriam

Felix Ernie C. Alburo

Born: October 30, 1946

Died: Feb. 04, 2001

New year started with a literal bang…

I received the news that my father died on Friday, January 4, 2008 at about 6 o’clock in the evening.

As it was my day-off and considering that I was to go back to school teaching by Monday, I was at the UP Coop having some books ring-binded and organizing my lectures online when I got the call from my frantic sister Caryl. Hearing the dreaded news made me go numb all over — I didn’t even remember closing my internet sites and paying for my time… I vaguely remembered walking aimlessly in UP’s cold and gloomy campus until I stopped short in front of Vinzon’s Hall where I hailed a taxi to take me to somewhere where I could book the first flight out to Cebu City the next day. Read the rest of this entry »

I am still feeling the effects of my 10-day sojourn from Boracay Island and now its really time to go back to the real world.

I’m now back to work and grudgingly doing the daily news grind in the evening shift. But the bigger challenges lie ahead.

In a few days time, I will face my new classes again in Letran College and this thought has left me with mixed emotions. Read the rest of this entry »