PRESS FREEDOM EXISTS IN RP, IN REGION 8

There exists press freedom in Eastern Visayas and in the whole of the Philippines . This is the general contention of the members of the Eastern Visayas Tri Media Association who attended the activities in commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day, Sunday.

The media practitioners agreed that they are free to cover every nook and cranny of the political, economic, social, and security situations every hour of the day without fear that they will be killed or detained. No journalist is in jail for the practice of his or her profession, they observed.

The Eastern Visayas Media started the World Freedom Day by attending the 8:00 o’clock in the morning Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Sto. Nino Church , Tacloban City .

After the mass, a wreath-laying rite was held at the Noblejas Junction in honor of Ramon “Monching” Noblejas who is remembered as a principled person, a good friend and a media man who sacrificed his life in the exercise of his profession. He was assassinated by an identified man in 1987 while hosting a show just outside the DYVL Radio Station. His funeral will long be remembered because of the more than 10,000 people who marched from the Sto. Nino Church going to the public cemetery.

Present to offer the wreaths were Vice Governor Mimyet Bagulaya for the Province of Leyte and Hon. Tita Pedrosa of the city Government of Tacloban; PIA Director Olive Tiu and NLRC Commissioner Aurel Menzon; Mr. Roland Hidalgo in behalf of the Noblejas Family; Mr. Nestor Abrematea, President of the EV Tri Media Association, and Mr. Neil Glova in behalf of Manila Broadcasting Company DYVL.

The motorcade to Asia Stars Hotel where the commemorative program was held followed. During the short program and fellowship at the Asia Stars Hotel, Mr. Nestor Abrematea welcomed the members of the media to the first ever commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day in Region 8.

Eastern Times editor and publisher Carolina Montilla who is the current National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Chapter in the Region called the attention to the killings of journalists and the threats being received by several members who are now in hiding. She said that the families and the officers of NUJP in the Region are also concerned.

Director Olive Tiu informed the media participants that the United Nations declared May 3 as the World Press Freedom Day in order to remind the world on the importance of protecting the fundamental human right of freedom of expression enshrined in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This year’s celebration is focused on the safety and impunity of journalist safety and impunity considering that 2006 recorded the most number of killing of journalists all over the world which according to Reporters without Boarders numbered to about 75 journalists and 32 media staff.

Aside from encouraging the government to develop initiatives in favor of press freedom, the public is also reminded of its responsibility to support and cooperated with the government in order to solve the killings of media practitioners.

Director Tiu underscored that World Press Day should serve as a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Words can save lives, she said but on the other hand, words like swords can also kill people. She urged the media practitioners to reflect on ways to propagate values that respect the media’s vital role in promoting sustainable peace, democracy and development.

General Armando Cunanan, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, in his message read by Captain Mario Jose Chico, the Information Officer, discussed the role of the AFP in protecting press people. He said that President Arroyo has directed the AFP to solve the killings of journalists by working closely with the Philippine National Police and the media groups to once and for all find lasting solution to the problem.

Fortunately, he said, in Eastern Visayas , there is an environment conducive for the press people to do their job with very minimal security concerns. This he said can be attributed to the high degree of professionalism and observance of work ethics from among the members of the Eastern Visayas Tri-Media.
Hon. Mimyet Bagulaya and Hon. Tita Pedrosa also gave their good wishes to the media in connection with the activity on World Press Freedom Day.

SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES PHILIPPINES, UPLIFTING THE LIVES OF FILIPINO YOUTH

Filipinos are grateful people. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s gesture of awarding a Presidential Citation to the SOS Children’s Villages Philippines in recognition of its contribution in uplifting the lives of Filipino youth, is a tangible manifestation of this trait.

President Arroyo cited the SOS Community for transforming and changing the lives of the 964 SOS integrated and independent children making them productive citizens and active members of society. Stories of hope which springs from the SOS Community’s unconditional love and inspiration, abounds.

She said that the SOS community has faithfully and ceaselessly pursuing its goals in the last 40 years that benefited Filipino children in various villages and supporting youth facilities located in Calbayog, Cebu., Davao, Iloilo, Lipa, Manila and Tacloban.

The President handed the Presidential Citation for SOS, to no less than the President of the Kinderdolf International Mr. Helmut Kutin, for effectively carrying out its vision and mission of providing love and care to more Filipino children in need.

Mr. Kutin, who came to the Philippines to attend the SOS Children’s Villages Philippines’ 40th anniversary, told the President that it is their mission to help orphaned, abandoned children worldwide, including the Philippines.

He was accompanied by Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, chairman of SOS Children’s Villages Philippines, and its national board of directors and Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral.

SOS Children’s Village is a place for orphaned, abandoned and neglected children in extreme difficult circumstances. Competent and responsible SOS mothers and co-workers provide unconditional love and inspiration, support and encouragement for these children to make them feel they belong.

While several of the children were turned over to the SOS Children’s Villages by their impoverished families, many of them have been left at the doorsteps of the villages, without a name or a family. Many times, the children are given names and baptized right in the SOS Children’s Villages.

The children are placed in a home setting and given all his or her needs, food, shelter, clothing, education. recreation, but most specially love and affection as only a true family could give.

SOS also offers livelihood skills and vocational training programs, counseling and day care centers, educational programs and scholarships to less privileged families living near the children’s villages.

The SOS Children’s Village originated in Austria in 1949. It was founded by Professor Dr. Hermann Gmeiner who was born on June 23, 1919 in Vorarlberg, Austria into a farmer's family. His mother died when he was very young and his 16-year-old sister Elsa took the mother's place for her younger brothers and sisters. As destiny would have it, she became the role model for Hermann Gmeiner's idea of an ideal SOS mother.

While Dr. Gmeiner began his studies in medicine with the goal of becoming a pediatrician, at the same time, he was also engaged in youth welfare work and was exposed to the plight of the youth and children in a war-ravaged world. He was particularly moved by the condition of destitute children, and realized that providing them with just the basic needs was not enough.

He felt only a proper home with a caring mother and company of siblings could ensure the vital physical, mental and emotional growth of a child. The SOS concept was thus born with the simple idea of providing abandoned and orphaned children, a valuable substitute for their lost families.

SOS counterpart in the Philippines was established on Feb. 29, 1964 with the first SOS Children’s Village in Lipa City, Batangas. To date, there are seven SOS Children’s Villages and 17 attached facilities being managed in the Philippines.

Mr. Helmut Kutin grew up in an SOS Children's Village himself. Helmut Kutin was born in Bolzano (Italy) in 1941. Following a family tragedy he was admitted to the world's first SOS Children's Village in Imst (Austria) in 1953. Later he moved to the SOS Youth House in Innsbruck. and later on played a substantial role in organising the work of SOS Children's Villages in Asia.
One of Hermann Gmeiner's closest co-workers, he was elected to succeed him as President of SOS-Kinderdorf International in 1985.