Editorial: Media woes

IT was very devastating to learn that broadcast giant ABS-CBN has terminated some of its employees due to network woes, which is redundancy.

Its local station in Bacolod laid off more than 20 regular workers and talents.

There are also reports that other stations from different provinces sacked their employees, too.

But in the City of Smiles, it was never a happy day for the affected media workers when they were informed about their separation on Tuesday, May 22.

Their employment is until June 30.

They will also get a substantial separation pay.

While the TV network has yet to issue a statement on the issue, this is really demoralizing news, perhaps callous.

One of the many media woes.

Media workers do not mind if they are underpaid and overworked, as long as they get the job done – that is to get the truth out there; to the public; to the listeners; to the viewers,; and to the readers.

It is a shame we have sitting president who will do everything to discredit the media, which had helped shaped our history.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier threatened to block the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise, which will expire on March 30, 2020.

The president claimed that the network did not show his political ads during the 2016 campaign even if they already accepted the payment.

Last March, TV5 Network Inc. also shut down the operations of its online news portal, InterAksyon while some employees of CNN Philippines were also laid off in January.

This is just one of the many media woes. But still, we move on. Let us continue to seek for the truth.

Police state in the making? Groups alarmed over passage of PH ID system

Various groups expressed dismay over the recommendation of the bicameral conference committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate to proceed with the implementation of the National Identification (ID) system in the country.

The committee, on Tuesday evening, May 22 adopted the Senate version of the proposed Philippine Identification System Act of 2018, which was authored by Senator Panfilo Lacson.

The lawmakers are now eyeing to implement the law by the end of June this year.

ACT Teachers Representatives Antonio Tinio and France Castro said the measure will become a tool of the Duterte administration in “signing away the right of Filipinos to privacy and is another step closer for the Philippines to become a police state.”

In a statement they issued on Thursday, ACT Partylist said the national ID system mandates the establishment of a Filipino Identification System and requires all Filipino citizens to provide personal information to the government in exchange for the so-called Filipino ID Card.

“The bill empowers the government to collect and retain from each and every Filipino citizen their personal information of exceptional scope and interest,” Tinio pointed out.

He added that information that the government will gather from individuals will include not only the basic personal data but also sensitive personal information such as biometrics by facial scan, fingerprints and other identifiable features.

Tinio said the sensitive information will be included upon the crafting of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the ID system law.

Castro said the bill is a threat to the right of privacy and will provide the government a powerful tool of surveillance, control, and repression over all citizens.

“With President Duterte’s emerging dictatorial rule, the deteriorating human rights situation, the increasing number of extrajudicial killings, martial law in Mindanao, a total war in the countryside, and the Duterte regime’s tyrannical rule, the bill may be used against those who criticize and oppose his policies,” she added.

The proposed law will also result to the deprivation of the basic social needs and discrimination against those who do not have the ID once the law is implemented, Tinio said.

Castro dismissed the claim that the ID system will provide easier access for the people to transact with the government.

She said delays in government transactions are caused by rampant corruption and red tape.

Tinio raised serious concerns about the country’s sovereignty and security when the ID system will push through.

“What is also alarming is that the proposed custodian of the giant database of sensitive personal information is the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that entered into a questionable contract with a US-based firm called Unisys,” Tinio said.

A draconian measure

Human rights group Karapatan also condemned the passage of the National ID system at the bicameral committee of Congress, saying it is a “draconian” measure and should not be used to deny basic social services to all Filipinos.

In a statement on Thursday, the group said the proposed measure is designed to infringe on the citizens’ right to privacy, the right against surveillance and the right against government witch hunts against its so-called enemies and critics.

For its part, the the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) slammed the passage of the National ID system.

The group expressed fear that the law, once implemented, will turn out to be an additional ammunition in Duterte’s arsenal of tyrannical policies.

“The government wants to put a collar on every Filipino,” the KMP said in a statement on Thursday.

The group emphasized that progressive sectors and civil libertarians have long opposed and blocked the attempts of previous administrations to implement the National ID system.

“Now, under Duterte, all Marcosian policies are making a convenient resurrection,” KMP said. (davaotoday.com)