EDITORIAL

December is Community
Press Month

December is "National Press Congress Month and the Month of the Community Press in the Service of the Nation." It has been declared as such under Presidential Proclamation No. 1187.

The presidential proclamation calls for the media practitioners to remain vigilant vanguards of press freedom and of free speech. The edict also calls for the media to reinvent itself to remain relevant to an increasingly complex psycho-social, geopolitical and strategic economic milieu. Otherwise, it risks forfeiting its credibility as purveyor of information deemed vital in helping forge a national consensus on cogent issues.

Significantly, proclamation 1187 dedicates the month of December to confer national recognition to the men and women of the community press in the service of the nation.

This year, the observance of the National Press Congress Month and the Month of the Community Press in the Service of the Nation will be highlighted by the 15th National Press Congress to be held at Dakak Park in Dapitan , the shrine city of the Philippines, where Jose Rizal was exiled by the Spaniards for fomenting "unrest" in the hearts and minds of God-fearing Filipinos. By "unrest," they meant Rizal’s invocation of the basic rights to free speech, free expression, and free-assembly - - all considered abominations by the Spanish clergy, when invoked by "Indios" like Rizal.

The press congress started on Sunday, December 5. Former Cong. Romeo "Nonong" Jalosos, media multi-awarded winner Rey Langit, GMA anchor lady Claire Delfin, Broadcaster Allan Sison, Dr. Jacqueline Badcock of the UNDP, and Dapitan City Councilor Aana Marie "Apple" Agolong are expected to attend the Press. Congress.
As spearhead organization of the month-long observance, the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI) has adopted the theme, "Media Re-engineering Tourism and Climate Change Initiatives.

It indeed behooves media leaders and practitioners to redefine and re-engineer their sense of purpose and direction within the context of the country’s rapidly shifting and dynamic forces of growth and development. This year’s press congress theme focuses on tourism and climate change. Tourism builds international bridges of friendship, regardless of creed and culture, while climate change is a new global phenomenon threatening the survival of humanity. Both are inter-dependent and media has a critical role to play in balancing their interlinked dimensions.

Drawn to the place called Dapitan where the fiery spirit to be free in words and speech once soard proud and unbowed, some 250 publishers, broadcasters, editors, media executives, press club officers and members, journalists working abroad, writers, college editors, advisers, infor-mation officers, on-line journalists and other mass communication practitioners will converge in Dapitan and pay homage to our national hero.

No less than President Benigno S. Aquino has hailed the PAPI National Press Congress. Among those expected to lead in welcoming the press congress participants are Zamboanga del Norte Gov. Rolando Yebes, Dapitan City Mayor Dominador Jalosjos, Jr., Vice Mayor Patri Bajamundo-Chan, and City Councilor Anna Marie "Apple" Agolong, chair of the city council committee on tourism. /MP