IloiloUpClose

To the Iloilo blogging community:

The “Arangkada” morning show of GMA’s Ratsada TV station will air a segment on blogging in Iloilo. It will feature an interview with me about how I got started on blogging, the rewards that I derive, the potential of blogging as the “new-wave” journalism, etc, on Tuesday, July 29, at 6:30 a.m.

The ruling of the Supreme Court in dismissing the petition filed by Iloilo vice governor Rolex T. Suplico to declare as “null and void” the aborted ZTE-NBN contract is yet another defeat that will diminish his chances of riding on the issue for a senatorial run in 2010.

Suplico had banked that the ZTE-NBN controversy would drag long enough before the high tribunal and give him enough publicity to bolster his plan to seek a senate seat, but the early resolution of the case will now close that avenue for him.

Not only that.

The dismissal as “moot and academic” of the case represents the latest debacle suffered by the Ilonggo politician that would erode his credibility before the public eye.

Just recently, Suplico suffered an embarrassing defeat when the Department of Budget and Management ruled that the annual budget ordinances that he authored and got the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to approve was “inoperative in its entirety.”

This ruling exposed the ignorance of Suplico in framing appropriations ordinances notwithstanding his experience as a three-term congressman and one-term board member.

The devastation caused by the strong winds and flash floods that came with Typhoon Frank in the province of Iloilo also unleashed the worst in the characters of certain journalists whose only mission is to destroy reputations for a fee.

Novie Guazo and Rhod (as in Rhodora) Tecson devoted more air time to broadcasting falsehoods about Iloilo governor Niel Tupas Sr., provincial administrator Manuel “Boy” Mejorada and provincial social welfare and development officer Neneth Pador than joining their colleagues in media in trying to generate relief assistance for tens of thousands of flood victims in the city and province.

Perhaps the sludge that swept into almost every home in the path of the flash floods had filled the brains of these young men as they relished in fabricating every conceivable lie and utter language that belonged to the sewerage to destroy the honor and reputation of these government officials.

What they don’t realize is that their behavior is being compared by their own listeners to rabid mad dogs, who bark and howl, with saliva drooling down their chins, at people who are dedicating their time and energy to bringing relief assistance to the victims.

As their colleagues from other radio stations worked in marathon shifts to help bring relief goods to evacuation centers, these individuals consumed their valuable air time filling the airlanes with the most unethical brand of broadcasting.

“It won’t surprise us that pretty soon, even the technicians in their own radio station will switch the radio dial to rival stations because their broadcasting has gone beneath the acceptable standards of journalism ethics and professionalism,” said Mejorada, a veteran newspaper editor and broadcaster before he joined public service.