NEWS: Oplan Kaluluwa of Davnor police up

oct 30

Ban on firearms, liquor, sound system to be enforced

Davao del Norte provincial police director PSSupt. Benelito Bianzon bared yesterday that he has already directed all his police chiefs and stations to secure all cemeteries and memorial parks across the province for the All Saints Day and All Souls Day celebration this coming weekend.

He said that, under the police-coordinated Oplan Kaluluwa, police elements with civilian force multipliers will be deployed in every cemetery to put up close security and public assistance centers.

He added that the police will coordinate with each local government unit in the province on the properly designated parking areas, stalls, entrances and exit ways.

He reminded cemetery goers on the ban to carry firearms and other deadly weapons, liquors and sound systems inside the cemeteries that the police would enforce to make our All Saints Day and All Souls Day solemn and peaceful.

The police will be in full alert starting Saturday. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: cha music, davao del norte pssupt benelito bianzon, tagum, all souls day all saints day tagum davao del norte, davao del norte pssupt benelito bianzon, oplan kaluluwa savao del norte, oplan kaluluwa tagum city

OPINION: History in a hurry

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

oct 27

Journalism, someone said, “is history in a hurry”. The news that comes out now becomes accumulating details for summarizing history in the future. And so, at the hands of a journalist lies constantly developing stories, sans those news stories of one-shot, short shelf life. But whatever, such news might be later be a relevant part one day in history.

For this, especially in print daily, a journalist is faced everyday of beating the deadline. Always he sends his story immediately after it unfolds to his outlet on or before the deadline set by the editor as there are still series of works to do involving machines, working men and newsboys before the news gets to the hands of the readers the early morning after. Sidlak is one of these.

At the age of the Internet, there are now news outfits in the country that updates its news from time to time in a day in their websites. Just visit the good online sites of GMA TV, the Inquirer, or Philippine Star. Traditional media converging with net and cellphone technologies is today’s challenge in the country. Innovative print media or journalists in the provinces wanting to share their news and information to the world, outside the localities where their papers are in circulation, have now the free blogs to seize on. I’m doing this since June although in two days delayed to give exclusivity and justice to Sidlak which funds for my newsgathering.

Now thanks again to the web’s e-mail feature. Now, at least I have a lot or Internet cafes anywhere, in Tagum, in most of Comval towns, wherever I cover, to choose from to send my news stories since I have no laptop and purse to seize on the free WIFI like at Miko’s Brew, where coffee latte is not–of course- free. Sidlak has email address intentionally flashed daily right at its front page so readers and sources could send contributions, comments, reactions or sides from any party, aggrieved or not. This is the latest technology, and by e-mail’s speed in delivering messages in seconds, let’s avail it.

In freer Manila, journalists are better off. Besides the higher remuneration and abundant centers of news of journalists of the Big Club that come with the Imperial Manila as the center of everything and the national market and audience, most important is that they are situated in a freer milieu , in liberated zones where news sources aren’t afraid to be identified as news sources and often they are properly attributed in the news. In the provinces, there is a gulf of difference as often sources of news, which is “sensitive”, or that which may step on someone’s toes, have the tendency to beg not to be named or to speak only on the condition of anonymity to the Small Club journalists.

This is compounded by the tendency of public officials in the provinces to be mum, to tombstone or not to reply to media issues about them or reply to gut issues head on. The worst is they become onion-skinned. If this situation would have its way, then we’re left to have no public interest news at all, and PIA apologists would be happy churning out their always positive devcom news for the government. Press Sec. Jess Dureza should better be apprised on these difficulties than telling all and sundry, brimming last week on the caveat about “efforts of the press to get the side of Mr. So and So proved futile”. It’s easily said than done in countrysides newspapering- except perhaps to Cong. Anton Lagdameo, who is a stand out among the big Davnor and Comval politicians for always texting us his replies, even long, when we did ask for his statement on burning issues of the day. So he got for several times front-page treatment on the next day.

There are cases that since the information given by the source who spoke on anonymity is one issue of public interest, especially about one who occupies a public position (not private citizen), so the news of the source comes out on the news values  of immediacy and public interest, with us relying that the subject who cannot be immediately reached at a time near to the deadline can have all his reply on the next day or next immediate days.

It wasn’t Friday (daily Sidlak has no issues on Saturdays and Sundays), but Monday last week when we did run the story about AGR’s alleged frequent stay in Manila. On the next day, his reply “Not true” did see another banner headline to give fairness to him, in equal space and prominence. I made sure I could interview him at Tahanan on the day Press Sec. Dureza came as the guest of NPC-Davnor-Comval Chapter oath-taking and opening of the provincial media center. Moreover, the story was proactive to him as it was about a source supportive to him and to his  congressional bid wanting for his visibility for sure winning by 2010.

Had it been published Friday (which we would not allow), it could have been unfair, kay we know bahaw na ang AGR reply by Monday. No malice about that, sir. As we seek solace on the right of journalists to protect their sources, we also are holding sacrosanct the right to reply of subject parties in the news as we did in our Tuesday’s issue. But unfortunately, the Provincial Legal Officer Jennifer Namoc for asking for Sidlak’s fairness and objectivity in her letter that reached Sidlak office by Wednesday obviously failed to read AGR’s reply in our banner story on Tuesday or get hold of the issue. She could have sent her protest via the email and not via the snail mail, so we could immediately publish it the next day. But maybe the good lawyer was not just apprised on our Tuesday’s issue by the politically nosey provincial administrator Rufo Peligro, who is also the ed in chief of Executive Report, PGO’s weekly news bulletin, or by his many info men. Otherwise, we’ll say it’s not our duty to always give you free complimentary copies of Sidlak. A newspaper is sold, not given.

BLOGBUZZ: Heard about that when it comes to the Davnor Capitol, the local media is being looked upon with divisive stare, either you’re a suspect to be with the Panabo-based weekly publisher who is a long-time biased drum-beater for the Floirendos, or with the docile ones (di makabasag pinggan), the kongko (always soliciting) media of dubious circulation or outlets. Sidlak is neither either-or of whom… Oh my gulay! that usual and bankrupt media parameter- that you need a big ad sponsor in order to survive. Of course, we need ads to have cash, but we’re banking  more on our burgeoning subscribers’ and readership base in order to survive…. We print replies as we really need them to be fair and objective. Again, we’re just striving to be your little real press. (For online edition, visit my blog at: http://cha4t.wordpress.com, for comments and reactions, e-mail: ruralurbanews@yahoo.com, or chamonforte@yahoo.com)

Filed under: AGR davao del norte, anthony rafael g. del rosario davao del norte, atty. jennifer namoc, cha music, miko's brew, miko's brew tagum, rufo peligro, sidlak news, AGR, anthony rafael g. del rosario, cong. anton lagdameo, sidlak news

OPINION: Short draft memoirs: Joecab at his loneliest

BLOGISTA
BY Cha Monforte

It was the day after. Jose “Joecab” Caballero was finally defeated- confirmed by humiliating election results. He was then called as phenom- for slaying big political dragons- long-reigning old Davnor politician Gregorio Dujali and he became a vice gov in the then big beautiful undivided country of Davao del Norte; next the Sarmientos- then known as an institution, first the matriarch Dona Luz, then he became the first Comval gov after Comval was separated from Davnor in 1998; next the son politico-economic heir Roger “RMS” in the 2001 gubernatorial toss up, then Joecab got his second term and went straight getting his last term without a hitch knocking off a token candidate suspected to have run for a proxy war within the unified Lakas ticket in 2004.

But for the so much heck of his organized sectors including the kabirs on dispersal binge Joecab’s camp was so much enthralled and so his formidable opposition camp was also so much enthralled of his nine-year rule characterized by a patronage-driven populist programs. They both seemed put in so overblown expectations that on one hand, Joecab got the province’s District 2 for his own congressional bid and put her daughter then Boardmember Kristine for the gubernatorial bid, while on the other hand, the unified opposition ruing against him had all but made an overkill in plugging all holes in skittish electoral campaign against Joecab’s political machinery and logistics which turned out to be only made of so much hoopla and pretensions. Joecab the phenom was overwhelmingly defeated already in the night of May 14, 2007 election day when the first rush of low turn out of votes for him and Kristine started trickling in to his Dragon headquarters. I heard that in the dead of that night his headquarters was already deserted by his lawyers, loyal followers, so-called strategists, so-called planners, so-called propagandists. I was not in the inner circle of them.

In the early morning of May 15, 2007, at around 6:00 A.M. I and Rey Castardo, also an info man, visited Dragon, and there we saw a gloomy pall of light iinside. Joecab had apparently no sleep, also with Kristine and Madam Mimi. Except for Anamei’s pretty, red-eyed PGO ladies who were sipping San Mig light beer perhaps for a drowse or juices in cans, there were already no Rey Pajarito and lots of political CAOs upstairs of Dragon, that building by the church which became the base in erecting the foundations of the Comval provincial government. There were few CAOs downstairs, but reports said the CAOs failed to deliver the goods for the liners while some of them allegedly stashed it for themselves kept pestering as gripes in the rounds. Accordingly, one had already taken an early vacation, while another one had bought a brand new motorcycle. Joecab had as mouthful on dirty politics and massive vote buying.

Seeing our presence supposed meant to troop around to empathize and give our last salute to the man who recruited us in the first place, he directed me to write a PR for ABS-CBN and the Inquirer. I hurried to write a piece from his dictates. When it was made, as usual he made corrections carefully choosing words not as a politician but more as a lawyer. Almost the journalistic PR was mangled by his own legalese words. I couldn’t do otherwise but finalized it, still fine-tuning it within journalese acceptability. And the usual of him as one abante-atras PR chief dawned again on him. He kept the PR close to his chest, reflecting. He was beaten to the draw in post-election news as a sore loser.  The final PR was never faxed to news outlets. Towards the midday when Dragon was at its loneliest, I and Rey Castardo called it quits. We hit the road for home gutom. The End.

Last month at the height of the issue on ZTE deal on Diwalwal, I got a chance to see Joecab, the citizen, for the first time at his Panorama home after that gloomy day for an interview on the issue. He said he has already secured peace as plain citizen and stopped counting his political wounds. “I enjoy being a fulltime father now,” he said adding that for nine years he had been always with the people of Comval. But Joecab even berated me in dragging him to the issue, that he would be summoned (not in legalese usage) in an SP probe-inquiry, and even questioned who am I writing for now. It was just like Cong. Way Kurat last Tuesday for suspecting me to be still loyal to one-way PR conscious Joecab. But by that I got the opportunity to level off with Cong. Way K. For all and sundry, I’m back to fulltime media works after a long interregnum. Chief government propagandists who have been used and out of delicadeza and deference must also bow down to the new power holders and not cling to positions even protected by the CSC.

We were with the defunct Northern Star in the days of the cut-and-paste newspaper layouting, covering Mankilam to as far as the interior Sto. Tomas, Pantukan. Laak, New Bataan and up Diwalwal. Also, the good thing in the media now, Press Sec. Jess Dureza, is that the Internet and cellphone spell a difference in getting and sending facts and news at least expense compared to the past ever-peripatetic days. It’s different now in the media, you can now live by and with it but a story is always made for the love of writing and of the profession, said publisher Bert Gorgonio last April when rice prices skyrocketed. “Gwapo ni kay wa tay mga amo,” he added. But the blood of a writer runs deep in me just like Bert, who also had a stint working in Surigao government. Objectivity and fairness in journalism has always been our constant guide. At the end of the day, it will always be our readers who will judge and sustain us. When we err just like any human, we are humbled by your notice of correction or side as we take your right to reply as sacrosanct to a working press. We just always try and strive to be your real press. (For online edition, visit my blog at: http://cha4t.wordpress.com, e-mail: ruralurbanews@yahoo.com or chamonforte@yahoo.com)

Filed under: comval, roger m sarmiento, pantukan, new bataan, sto. tomas davao del norte, dona luz sarmiento, gregorio dujali, laak, rey pajarito, cha music, cong way kurat zamora, roger m sarmiento, dona luz sarmiento, ex gov joecab caballero, gregorio dujali