Agusitn, Christelle Mae
Ortiz, Beatriz
Eugenio,Merien Nicole
Rosetis, Niño
Obsuna, Isabelle
Is it Really More Fun in The Philippines?
Not too long ago, the Department of Tourism released the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign. This campaign aims to promote the country – specifically its culture, lifestyle and hot spots. There is no denying that our country is one of the best spots to take a vacation and relax. However, is it really more fun in the Philippines?
The field of politics gets more complex and distorted nowadays. Recently, the president of the Philippines signed a new law, the Cybercrime Prevention Act. This law actually has good intentions, but the disadvantages are that libel is penalized. You cannot criticize anymore in the through the internet, whether something is good or bad and anyone could be sentenced to long jail terms for posting offensive comments online. The law does not only set limits to our freedom of expression but it also questions the type of government that we have. The idea of democracy governs in this country. People are entitled to express themselves freely because it is their right and essential in participation. The people are also allowed to voice out what they think of the government so that officials would be encouraged to improve the way they perform. Since the Cyber Crime Law stated that libel is a punishable act, governance would be one-sided. All pieces of information would be biased and the power of the people is undermined. In all honesty, who would want to live or visit a country that, as people say it, does not allow freedom of expression? If we want our country to prosper more, then the government should give full freedom to its citizens.
Elections seem to have lost their integrity as years went by. Voters would usually select those with the most wealth given that this wealth is shared among the people. In short, the candidates buy the people’s vote. The problem with people is that they are so desperate to alleviate poverty that they would do anything even if it means voting someone out of money. One the other hand, the problem with our candidates is that they are pretentious and they would show off people, pretending that they care but in reality they are just after power. Likewise, there are people who run but are just actually relatives of the present officials. There would be a trend of having political dynasties in the Philippines and it diminishes the chances of others to run for election. This there is this thin line of disagreement between the government leaders and the citizens. Through the examples, politics in the Philippines might not be as good as it should be and may result into misunderstandings and riots. These would make one reflect whether if the people in the government are worthy of their position right now.
Another reason why Philippines is not considered a place fun to live in because foreign visitors and residents, especially the Americans, are targets for attacks and are threats. There is an unspecified threat against the Americans, and there were continuing reports that says that there is an ongoing terrorist threat to Westerners and Western interests.
Our citizens should learn to respect every person and should not take a person’s life. There was an incident wherein a student from UST was stabbed in the campus of FEU. One thing only comes to my mind with regards to this topic, if one can’t even feel safe in a school how much more if you are to be placed “outside”?
Our country experiences a lot of heavy rainfalls despite the hot weather. We all know that storms are threat to a country’s safety and property preservation, and just recently, it is reported that a storm is passing the Philippines which explains the bad weather experienced in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, and the Bicol regions. Because of the storm, floods were present making it less “fun” for vacations and investments.
A big factor that makes us think that it is not fun in the Philippines is the article which says that more Filipinos claim to feel hunger now more than the previous years. It is alarming to know that a high percentage of the citizens are confessing that they have nothing to eat, particularly in Metro Manila where tourists would most likely stay for a night after their trip. How could we encourage them that it is fun to be here and they will be taken care of if our citizens solely could not say that they are given enough aegis? How could we say that there is more fun in the Philippines if our own citizen themselves cannot find living itself fun?
Based on scenarios above, I could confidently say that it is really not as fun in the Philippines as the government wants it to be because of what is happening around us today. If we really want our country to progress, then we should start fixing the problems within our nation step by step before even promoting the “It’s more Fun in the Philippines” slogan. Nevertheless, there is still hope for our country to progress.
Philippines’ controversial mining rules suspended
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Author: Riza T. Olchondra
Information About the Author: Reporter at Philippine Daily Inquirer Philippines
Education: A.B. Communication Arts, minor degree in Japanese Studies, English, Journalism, Japanese Studies at Ateneo de Manila University
Publisher: Philippine Daily Inquirer
Date: Sept 29, 2012
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-The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the government’s new mining policy was supposed to take effect on Sept. 29, 2012, but it was suspended by the Environment Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio. Undersecretary said that the IRR was suspended because it is still subject for amendments and it needs to be less ambiguous. On the other hand, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) released a statement seeking clarification from the government regarding the IRR and says that the last minute insertions made by Environment Secretary Ramon Paje was unauthorized. Also they say that they are conscious of the government’s difficult duty of balancing interest.
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-The government suspended the IRR for the desire to make amendments over the COMP’s description of the guidelines as patently illegal.
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-The article was objective enough because it presented all the claims regarding the suspension of the IRR and did not cite favour on either side. It also covered all the necessary information and interviewed the right institutions regarding the issue. It contained the dates needed, the laws for reference and all the institutions involved.
The news report was accurate because the points of the claims were pointed out incisively.
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More Pinoys Felt Hunger, says new poll
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Author: Kim Arveen Patria
Information about the author:
Current Reporter at Yahoo! Philippines Newsroom
Started Working at BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation in 2011
Left job at BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation in 2012
Graduate of University of the Philippines Diliman
Publisher: Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom
Date: Sept 28, 2012
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-Social Weather Situations (SWS) reported that Filipinos experiencing hunger increased. Citizens claiming that they have nothing to eat have highest percentage in Mindanao at 50.3 percent, next is in Visayas, 17.3 percent, and the Luzon area outside Metro Manila, registered 16 percent. Metro Manila has the sharpest increase in overall hunger posting 10 percent to 26 percent last August.
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-Filipinos claiming to experience hunger increased even if self- proclaimed poor Filipinos decreased. SWS says that, “As concept, poverty allows various degrees of deprivation. Those who also suffer from hunger are more deprived than those who simply suffer from poverty.”
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The report is accurate because it gives the needed data to support the stated condition. The article covered a wide span of information because it collected data not just in Metro Manila, but also included the whole Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Ergo, making the coverage nationwide.
However, having self-proclaimed poverty made it less objective because self-proclaiming doesn’t follow a certain criteria. The claim and criteria may vary depending on a person’s perspective. What is poor in one’s point of view may not be poor in another.
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Senators flip-flop on Cybercrime Law
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Author: Kim Arveen Patria
Information about the author:
Current Reporter at Yahoo! Philippines Newsroom
Started Working at BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation in 2011
Left job at BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation in 2012
Graduate of University of the Philippines Diliman
Publisher: Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom
Date: Oct 3, 2012
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-The issue of the cybercrime law really caught the attention of local and international community. Many of them expressed their loath to the said law which pushed the government, particularly the senators, to amend it. 10 senators agreed to the cybercrime law and only Sen. Teofisto Guingona III had gone against it. However, most of the 10 senators admitted that they have committed some mistakes and had some shortcomings.
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-Due to the public’s reaction towards the new law, the senators agreed to amend it, specifically the libel clause inserted to it. Despite the criticisms, the senators still stood up to their decision to implement the cybercrime law.
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The article was objective enough because it presented both the public’s reaction and the senator’s answers, therefore displaying a sense of fairness over the topic.
I can say that the article didn’t have a very wide range of coverage because it wasn’t able to cite more reactions from the people and wasn’t able to get the opinions of what’s left from the 10 senators. However, I think the reporter interviewed the people with authority to talk about the issue such as some of the senators; it is just that interviews were very limited. I think the report is accurate because the statements were put in the article with authenticity. What they said was merely quoted and it had very few elucidations.
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