Impinging on Press Freedom?

There's just too many things happening, too many new developments, too many legal issues, much more than one can reasonably blog about. This entire Gloriagate controversy can be considered a lawyer's, or at the very least, a law enthusiast's delight with all the legal issues and jargon being tossed around. Now, apparently the latest victim in this brouhaha is the freedom of the press.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has supposedly issued a circular banning the airing of the allegedly wiretapped phone conversations of Pres. Arroyo and Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioner Garcillano.

This has earned the ire of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), branding it "an assault against press freedom." I have to say that I'm inclined to agree. The government's interference in what the media, can, and cannot report about reeks heavily of censorship, especially considering the national significance and importance of this issue. Simply put, the people have a right to know.

I won't dwell on this issue any further, the issue pretty much speaks for itself, and besides, nakakapagod na, at nakakasawa na rin. Di ko lang talaga maintindihan kung bakit nagkakaganito ang pamahalaan natin, parang puro sablay yata ang mga pinag-gagagawa, at pati mga karapatan natin na nakasaad sa saligang-batas ay nasasagasaan na rin. Iwasan lang natin magpadala sa mga opisyal na nais itago ang katotohanan sa likod ng batas. Ang batas ay nandiyan para pangalagaan ang kapakanan ng mga mamamayan, at hindi para abusuhin ng mga taong nasa kapangyarihan upang itago ang katotohanan.

Hirap mag-Tagalog ng tuwid. Dahil sa buwisit na isyu na ito, di tuloy ako makapag-blog tungkol sa pagkakawalang sala ni Michael Jackson. :-)

Hanapin ang Katotohanan.

Links:

KBP slams NTC ban on tape as 'assault on press freedom'
KBP speaks out at last
PCIJ's Alternative links to download three-hour tape

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Commonwealth Ave. lot for Lease

Image
For lease, 261 sqm commercial lot near east-bound lane (going to Fairview) of Commonwealth Ave. Quezon City, between Tandang Sora and Ever Gotesco, directly opposite PNB . Accessible via 50m access road. No improvements on said property. For inquiries call 09228692272 or email ronallandottk@yahoo.com
Read more

Is aspartame safe?

Image
Do you know what aspartame is? Well, even if you don't, given its ubiquitous nature, its a virtual certainty that you have already crossed paths with it in your life at one time or another. For the uninitiated, aspartame is a low-calorie sugar substitute most often used in carbonated beverages, you know, the diet or lite variety. Here in the Philippines, it is commonly known by the brand names NutraSweet and Equal . The reason why it has significantly fewer calories is because its not carbohydrate based. Its a methyl (methane derivative) ester (organic compound) dipeptide (two amino acids joined by a single peptide bond) consisting of aspartic acid as the first amino acid, and phenylalanine as the second. Its about 180 times sweeter than typical table sugar, and as such, a little goes a long way. A single pellet of Equal (18 mg of aspartame) has about the same sweetening strength as a teaspoon of ordinary white sugar (about 5 ml). Do the math. It was first discovered in 19...
Read more

Peddling Snake Oil - The Khaos Super Turbo Charger

Image
Photos courtesy of Ghosthunter If you drive or are at least into cars, no doubt you've probably heard at one time or another about the Khaos Super Turbo Charger . It's a device that is claimed to drastically reduce the fuel consumption of your gasoline driven vehicle by as much as 50%. It created such a hype when it was introduced in November 2003 after glowing reviews and endorsements from, among others, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Makati Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Taiwan’s Automotive Research and Testing Center. Even Malacañang got into the picture, and presented the inventor, Pablo Planas, with a Presidential Award Medal for Outstanding Invention. All in all, various government agencies and government officials got into the picture, singing the praises of a device that miraculously reduces fuel consumption by a significant margin. As a result, in less than a year, more than 3,500 units were sold and installed to customers who swear by the product's effe...
Read more