Position Paper: MEDIA, THE FOURTH ESTATE SHOULD BE ALLOCATED A REGULAR BUDGET

Rationale:

Media has played and continues to play a critical role in holding at bay graft and corruption. It is a vital institution in a democracy. That’s why it is called “forth estate”. Strengthening media via budget allocation will strengthen the fight against graft and corruption and helps democracy prosper.

Points in favor of allocation of budget for Media:

- Media has helped protect the loss of billions of pesos from government funds due to the fear of exposure by media.

- Helping media therefore aids prevent malfeasance.

- Media also engenders efficiency in the delivery of services by honouring/citing the efficient and chastising the mediocre.

Suggested Use of Budget for Media:

- Training to professionalize media people; including scholarships

- Life insurance of accredited members, especially because of unsolved murder cases against media men.

- Mortuary. It is a pity to see media people begging the politicians for casket and burying expenses. Poverty, especially among provincial media could prevent more objective treatment of news.

- The AC-DC phenomenon continues as media men struggle to survive. This will hopefully disappear with budget.

- Some allocation maybe granted for lawyers’ fees in cases of libel. This fund makes media people more aggressive to expose anomalies.

- Some funds maybe allocated for equipment, vehicle and office rental, etc.

Impact of Granting Budget for Media:

- On publishers – will improve their business as there will be more media activities such as fora, trainings, travels, etc.

- Journalism colleges will flourish as there would be more enrolees eventually professionalizing media.

- Columnists, announces and writers will be more busy.

- Media personalities will be socially at par with any government functionary.

- Budget allocation will breathe meaning to media, the fourth estate.

Accountability of Media Fund Expenses:

- Media fund expenses shall be audited by COA. Just like any agency.

Negative Arguments against granting budgets for media:

- Budget allocation would make media vulnerable to pressures by government officials.

Response: Independent

Institutions of government such as Commission on Audit and the Judiciary are essentially independent in spite of receiving budgets.

Conclusion:

Based on the foregoing premises, the grant of a regular budget by congress will strengthen rather than weaken the independence of the press.

When it is strong, it is in a better position to fiscalize, and expose anomalies. Eventually, Media will help minimizing, if not eradicating graft and corruption. Other malpractices, strengthening our institutions.

In brief, providing regular budget for media is more than justified.

And its urgency increases by the day!

STUPENDOUS STUPIDITIES!

Yes, that’s plural. In Metro Manila, there are many urban planners, pero walay urbanidad!

Engineers, until now, many esterus remain unclogged of garbage especially of plastic, napkins, etc.There’s a saying “When everything has been said and done, there are more said than done!”

I used to be frequent to Manila (Metro, that is) and saw with my two eyes, contractors destroying/hammering with komatsu wrekers, good cemented roads to lay out another set of concrete in order to spend all before the year ends. But no money “daw” to dredge the “enteruses”! Just like what they do in the Davao Region. They will “bak-bakize” bad cement including good ones!

The purpose? You guessed it! But no money to improve the drainage of ricefields along road which were made virtually like glaut dikes. Like those roads in Central Luzon, Pangasinan, etc. which made lakes of those rice and corn fields! Why? They are highways but culverts across are too few and too small, like the brains of those who designed them.

In the first place they should have read the long history of the development of those flood plains. Those floodplains were developed due to innovations and siltations over a thousand years ago. So, when there’s flood it is but natural because these were responsible in making those land. Our engineers should have made 5 times the sizes of those culverts and canals!

I think we can’t blame them entirely because the professors of the colleges/universities where they graduated did not realize the need to include those concepts into their curriculum. Even examiners don’t know how to include them in their exams!

Its about time, our engineers go back to school. But before that our professors should have refresher course.