Sufferings and more sufferings…
Watching television reports on the devastation of monster typhoon Haiyan in central Philippines, particularly in Tacloban City, it is very hard not be emotional seeing many Filipinos are suffering from the wrath of this natural calamity. Corpses scattered the streets of Tacloban and people resorted to looting.
CNN and BBC ran long news stories about the tragedy and this helped – I mean a lot – in telling the whole world what happened in central Philippines. Really sad, too sad that many people died and many are still missing and unaccounted for. My heart bleeds for these people. Human sufferings are unimaginable to many who survived deadly trail left by Haiyan.
President Benigno Aquino also visited many areas in central Philippines, tagging along his Cabinet members, but have not stayed in Tacloban for long.
Unlike during the fighting between security forces and separatist rebels in Zamboanga, Aquino, along with the same political personalities, stayed for a week and supervised the operations against a ragtag army of about 400 rebels who occupied several villages. And lots of photo opportunities and interviews for Aquino’s Cabinet chiefs in Zamboanga during the crisis that lasted three weeks. Without the media, I don’t think those people would stay long in Zamboanga.
It’s good to know that Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero is now the new commander of the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City. Now, information will again flow freely to the media, but Gen. Guerrero should first put his own information officer and writers in place.
We had difficulty in getting news information from the Western Mindanao Command during the time of Generals Noel Coballes, now the army chief; and Rey Ardo, who retired recently from the service. The spokesmen of these people were unreliable!
And I got this unforgettable debate with one female civilian writer of Western Mindanao Command, who probably thinks she’s the military commander, for defending her bosses. Naalala ko tuloy yun kasabihan na “ang langaw kung nakapatong sa ibabaw ng kalabaw eh ang tingin niya sa sarili ay kalabaw na rin.”
For those who were not able to read the news article about this, well here is a reprint from the Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper entitled: “Media hindi priority ng militar” dated July 9, 2013.
“ZAMBOANGA CITY – Daig pa ng isang civilian writer ang mga commander ng Western Mindanao Command sa Zamboanga City matapos itong mapikon sa tutyada ng media dahil sa hindi paglalabas ng militar ng mga balitang nagaganap sa area of responsibility nito.
Sinabi ni Pai Paglala, na siyang writer ng Public Affairs Office ng Western Mindanao Command, na ang misyon umano nila ay abisuhan ang publiko at hindi ang media ukol sa mga kaganapan sa nasasakupan ng naturang kampo.
“Ang primary mission namin is to inform the public and not to inform the media,” ani Paglala.
“You have your own interest to protect and kami rin. There are news sa level namin na kailangan pang i-sanitize for public consumption. But if the news you want is those that are coming from the fields (sic) pwede kayo maghanap ng source dun. They are authorized to disclose essential information to the media,” dagdag pa nito.
Ipinagtanggol pa ni Paglala ang Western Mindanao Command at sinabing naglalabas naman sila ng balita, ngunit karamihan sa mga ito ay pawang mga activities naman ng militar tulad ng pagdating ng mga bisita o opisyal sa kampo nito sa Zamboanga City.
“Try to check, reminisce and everything. You will realize na hindi lang ganun pinapalabas namin. Masyado ka namang nagdedemand, di ka nman nag-eeffort magtanong kung anu ang news,” ani pa ni Paglala.
Sinabi pa nito na kung gustong makakuha ng balita ay kailangang pang pumunta sa Western Mindanao Command upang makapanayam ang mga opisyal doon.
“But we appreciate the effort of the media in helping us in this crusade. And in addition, while demanding sabayan mo din ng effort to ask, to interview or anu pa diyan. Huwag mong daanin sa kung anu-anong tira ginagawa mo diyan wala ka naman bases,” wika pa ni Paglala.
Maraming reporter ang nagre-reklamo dahil sa walang makuhang mga balita sa militar ukol sa kaguluhan sa Western Mindanao. At maging ang pagkuha ng mga litrato at video ng media sa mga sundalong sugatan sa labanan ay mahigpit na rin ipinagbabawal ng Western Mindanao Command.
Dahil dito ay hindi na rin naging interesado ang mga miyembro ng Defense Press Corps na magtungo sa kampo dahil sa kasalukuyang sitwasyon. Malayo umano ito sa kapanahunan ni dating Western Mindanao Command spokesman Col. Randolph Cabangbang at mga iba pang nauna sa kanya.
Si Col. Rodrigo Gregorio ang kasalukuyang spokesman ng Western Mindanao Command at ito naman ang sinabi niya bilang pagtatanggol sa sarili: “Just to set the record straight: I might be the Chief, PIO of WMC pero ako po ay isang hamak na extension po lamang ng Commander at WMC po. Anything we publish here, be it press or ‘praise’ release is not entirely my own because they are all cleared by my boss. Please don’t take it personal. Trabaho lang po tayo. Napag-utusan din lang po ako.”
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