makati standoff: media overkill

When i was 10, everyone who asked me what i wanted to be when i grew up got two answers - a writer and a broadcaster. as such, i pursued a that career path in college. i took communication arts in up baguio, majoring in broadcast communication. when household fees got higher and i became a different me in school, i was brought back to manila, got out of up and transferred to ue. since the communicationa rts course was dissolved teh year before i got in, i took the option of broadcast communication and after being enrolled in teh said school for a year and a half, i went awol. up til now, i am yet to reunite with the buildings of higher learning. but even without proper education about teh language and basics of broadcasing for almost two years, i am still in love with the thought of someday being on teh screens of everyon'e tv sets, reporting the news, live or otherwise.

but as the state of unrest in manila pen hotel subsides down, we see media mean get arrested one-by-one, with their video cameras, laptops, media news team vans confiscated and taken over. in addition, they are put inside buses, with the windows ordered shut. while on one corner, some media men are told they are ebing taken as witnesses AND suspects. but without batting an eyelash, defense sec. gen. cleared this issue by stating that they received information that some magdalo officials will pose as media men and civilian, that;'s why they had to arrest everyoneon site, including legit press people.

this is a scary sight.

no matter what their resons are, the media being treated as prisoners (with hands cuffed by plastic cable wires) are simply stepping on the bounds of democracy, of freedom of expression, and the right of the people to be informed.if prees freedom is reduced to this, what's next? to see before your very eyes one of teh most powerful and most influential part of teh society taken down just like that, you begin to wonder, what happens to us, then? if our ways of communciation are gagged up just like that, what happens to our voices?

to ponder on all of this, you start to wonder about the root of it all. are these certain officials merely doing it for control of power? or are they really working towards a brighter future for the people concerned but are not showing concern? blind governance?

what attracted me most to teh job of a broadcaster was simply because they get to be seen on tv, doing something that i know i can do - not singing, not dancing, not acting. but as time passed, i became aloof to news and current events which had my interest in that career seem to wane. but thanks to Tabak, not only did they renew my interest in the field, they also opened my eyes to the realities different people from all walks of life face in our society. i'd like to say i understand where the people involved in the manila pen incident, and all that happened thereon (media arrest primarily), are coming from. but i'm still learning.



**this is too much rant.