CICC wows PGMA

The CICC's "21st century design" and "Cebuano character" impress the President. Read that story here.

The Journalist's Code of Ethics

Here's an interesting test to find out whether SunStar, The Freeman, Cebu Daily News, ABS-CBN, GMA 7 and all other media outlets would leak in a "flood test":


(As quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.)

I. I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive errors promptly.

II. I shall not violate confidential information on material given me in the exercise of my calling.

III. I shall resort only to fair and honest methods in my effort to obtain news, photographs and/or documents, and shall properly identify myself as a representative of the press when obtaining any personal interview intended for publication.

IV. I shall refrain from writing reports that will adversely affect a private reputation unless the public interest justifies it. At the same time, I shall fight vigorously for public access to information.

V. I shall not let personal motives or interests influence me in the performance of my duties, nor shall I accept or offer any present, gift or other consideration of a nature that may cast doubt on my professional integrity.

VI. I shall not commit any act of plagiarism.

VII. I shall not, in any manner, ridicule, cast aspersions on, or degrade any person by reason of sex, creed, religious belief, political conviction, cultural and ethnic origin.

VIII. I shall presume persons accused of crime of being innocent until proven otherwise. I shall exercise caution in publishing names of minors and women involved in criminal cases so that they may not unjustly lose their standing in society.

IX. I shall not take unfair advantage of a fellow journalist.

X. I shall accept only such tasks as are compatible with the integrity and dignity of my profession, invoking the “conscience clause” when duties imposed on me conflict with the voice of my conscience.

XI. I shall conduct myself in public or while performing my duties as journalist in such manner as to maintain the dignity of my profession. When in doubt, decency should be my watchword.

4 provinces, 3 lameducks...

Days before Christmas, the Sugbuak proponents just had to try one more time. A Freeman report says there was an attempt to "smuggle" the bill when the proponents thought the oppositors weren't looking. Good thing Congressmen Cuenco, Gullas, Del Mar and Durano were smarter than they thought. Congressman Cuenco's threat to filibuster killed the fresh attempt to divide Cebu.

Possible reasons why the proponents thought they should try one more time:

1. With ConAss -- their only chance to stay in office without benefit of election -- dead, Sugbuak is the only thing that can revive their waning political future.

2. They had Joe de Venecia's full backing, in return for their help in passing the 2007 budget, and the ConAss resolution.

3. They thought they could pull one over Cebu's usually vigilant media, just because some of the more influential mediamen were too busy looking for leaks at the CICC. (In fact, Cheking Seares, in today's column still couldn't get over that leak, making you wonder whether people shouldn't just take one, to relieve themselves.)

To the Sugbuak proponents: Nice try. And thanks for the memories.

Leaking a Plug

Now that that leak has been plugged, and before the nit-pickers pick other things to pick on, we leak this plug:

1. The CICC has a footprint of almost 8,000 square meters and a floor area of over 25,0000 square meters. (The leak had a diameter of less than half an inch.)

2. It was built using almost 3 million kilograms of structural steel.

3. It was built in less than 8 months, at a cost of P515 million (Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo called it nothing less than "a miracle".)

4. It will have a meeting/exhibition space of almost 2 hectares, the single biggest convention and exhibition facility in the entire Visayas and Mindanao.

5. Its construction was welcomed by event organizers, who had had to contend with the lack of space and similar facilities in this part of the country.

6. Leo Lastimosa has never been to the CICC.

By the way, Bong Wenceslao's Christmas wish is appreciated. It hews closely to the Governor's Christmas wish, in her Christmas card and calendar:

Sa pasko ug sa tanang panahon,
ang mahinungdanon --
Dili sulti ang pabuhaton.
Buhat mao'y pasulti-on.

Wilson Ng praises CICC and Gov. Gwen, hits critics

I think a lot of Cebuanos would rather listen to this genius, and what he has to say.

... Can Barrita be far behind?

And from Eddie Barrita, Cheking Seares' confidante, coffee mate and beer buddy extraordinaire and plenipotentiary, comes this take on the Governor's new media policy.

Well, what did you expect? Where Cheking goes. . .

Note, however, the latent hubris that afflicts some opinion makers in the thinly veiled threat that the Governor's "absence" will make the heart grow fonder "for someone else".

Eddie, outside of Bo's Coffee Club, and Westpoint Cafe, there's a bigger world. And there's a lot of "fondness" out there to make up for the tragedy you warn will result from media's lost affections.

And while we're at this, Eddie, "media" is bigger than a few columnists congregating in the same coffee shops. Look around you, and step out of your comfort zone of cronies. There's a lot of resentment brewing in the real working media against "mediamen" who do not sweat it out in the field, but have something to say about everything under the sun.

Hope to see you at Westpoint soon. Buy me a beer.

At last, the Inquirer admits it leaked (literally)

I wrote this letter to the editor weeks ago, but it is only now that the Inquirer published it (at least in its online version).

I think the reason why the Cebu Daily News did not give that leak at the CICC as much coverage as the other papers is that they were afraid the issue would blow up in their faces. Or trickle down their heads.

Read that letter to the editor here.

Seares Scraping the Bottom?

It seems Cheking Seares can't end a column without picking on the CICC.

In today's column, Cheking, probably realizing his piece was going nowhere, just had to play the CICC card one more time.

Just how the "terrorist threat" as the purported reason behind the ASEAN Summit's postponement could, as a topic, lead to the posterior of his favorite whipping boy, CICC architect Maning Guanzon, defies logic. We probably need large doses of caffeine at Tinderbox, or Bo's Coffee Club at Ayala, to see the connection.

Cheking Seares usually gives sage advice about public relations, handling media and issues. He probably should be reminded that people see through -- and easily tire of -- demolition jobs, especially when they are not too well-concealed.

Cheking Seares loves to play word games, so let's humor him: Is he "nit-picking", "scraping the bottom of the barrel", or "beating a dead horse?".

The Freeman, too, disagrees

In today's The Freeman Editorial, another word of advice to the Governor on her new media policy. Read "Super Bobby's Advice" below, for our response.

Super Bobby's Advice

SunStar and GMA-7 commentator Bobby Nalzaro advises Governor Gwen Garcia against new media policy. Our letter of thanks to him:

Dear Super Bobby,

Coming from one of the Cebu commentators and mediamen we trust and respect more, your advice is valued, and we thank you for it.

In fact, if the Governor were not on her way to South Korea right now, I think she herself would have told you how your advice will always be valued and considered.

A public official always runs the risk of being accused of either of two things: being thick-skinned or being onion-skinned. If one doesn't listen to, or care about criticism, he is accused of being calloused, and insensitive to public opinion. If one reacts to criticism, he is accused of being too sensitive. Given this devil and that deep blue sea, the Governor has chosen to be sensitive, because she cannot see herself wearing the mask of traditional politicians, who toughen themselves to the point of losing their souls. Neither can she see herself wearing the other side of that mask: pandering to the media's every whim and caprice, just to gain their applause.

You call it a mistake, and we respect your opinion, but at this point, the Governor would rather err on the side of "onion".

As you yourself wrote, what matters most is how she works, and she is working hard. That is the language that people understand and appreciate. Where editors and columnists and commentators strain their eyes to find the tiny leaks at CICC, what the people see is a magnificent building that was built in less than eight months, upgraded district hospitals, unprecedented Philhealth coverage, new water systems, 400 kilometers of asphalted roads and concrete bridges in every municipality.

We would have wished that, as we value your advice, editors, columnists and commentators had also listened to your advice two weeks ago, to stop the attacks in deference to our being host of the Asean Summit. But they did not. I guess what hurt the Governor most was that, at a time when people from the rest of the country and the world were praising us, and patting us on the back, for the hard work we have done for the Asean, it was the few Cebuano opinion makers who could not resist flashing their pincers and being crabs.

The Governor does not wish to play that old, traditional game of crabs, and believes she was not elected by the people to join that game.

Again, thank you as always for your sound advice, and more power.

Polysyllabic

SunStar's Cheking Seares waxes sanctimonious over the word sanctimonious. Here's our reply. . .

Dear Sir:

“Pompous.”

Had we known that SunStar Cebu had a policy against, and Cheking Seares a personal aversion to, “polysyllabic” words, we would have used “pompous” instead of “sanctimonious”.

I was the news source who used the polysyllabic word. (By the way, and just in case your readers haven’t already noticed, “polysyllabic” is a full syllable longer than the offending word.)

I used it to refer to opinion makers (not reporters, as Cheking Seares wrote) who, feigning righteousness, flail at news sources over things the opinion makers know next to nothing about.

I used it precisely to distinguish reporters from opinion makers, who are not in the field, and whose analyses have nothing on which to rest except the arms of their chairs, and whatever it is that is passed off, and around, as bible truth in coffee shops.

To cite one well-known fact: the harshest critics of the CICC have never been to the CICC.

But if “pompous” is, well, still pompous, let’s call them “Tinderboxers.” This will give the public fair warning as to where their analyses are being brewed. And this will distinguish them from the boxers of the Manny Pacquiao kind, who take real punches in real boxing rings and have the scars to show for it.

We hope you will print this letter, in the interest of that monosyllabic word, “truth”.